100 OneShots: Death the Kid
by Katfosel
Summary: One-shots ranging from whump, to crack, to serious, to bromance, and of course, some will be absolutely... symmetrical. -rating for SOME chapters, will vary-
1. Father's Promise

**DISCLAIMER: Don't own Soul Eater or Death the Kid. ;A; that sucks. If I did, Kid wouldn't have OCD. I am sorry, but seriously, sometimes it detracts from his awesomeness. Atsushi Ohkubo just put that in there for humor. Not that I don't like humor, but seriously…**

**In case none of you knew (and I'd find that hard to believe) I LOVE Death the Kid. His stripes are adorable ^.^ (don't tell I said that -.-') and more than ANYTHING I enjoy Kid!whump. Not to fear though, not all of these will be whump. Some will be angsty, some will be crack!, some will be serious and some will be… OCD. Yes. Of course ;)**

* * *

Father's Promise

* * *

"_One day, Kid, you will be the next Grim Reaper. I can't promise it won't be dangerous. I can't promise you'll like it. I can't promise you won't have to endure suffering mortals can't even comprehend. I can't promise you won't want to just curl up and join the souls in the Grim World during the darkest times. But I __**can**__ promise you'll be the greatest Reaper I've ever had the honor to know…"  
Lord Death_

* * *

"Damn!" Kid yelled, dodging yet another fireball sent his way. A few attacks ago, one had singed his leg pretty badly, and even though he knew it would be half-healed by tomorrow it was still impeding his movement at present. _Dad chooses **this** mission, of course,_ he grumbled inwardly.

They'd cornered the witch, everything going to plan, and they were damn near beating her too, until more showed up. And more. Soon there was a mass of what must have been twenty or so witches attacking them from all sides. Skilled as he was, Kid had only taken out three, and was already beginning to tire. "Soul Resonance!" he ordered Liz and Patty breathlessly, landing in a crouch and summoning the large silver barrels quickly. There was no time for formality in this situation. Almost snarling, the reaper announced his signature attack line - "Death Cannon!" A large cloud of dark gray skulls erupted, and in its place drifted... one purple soul.

_This is definitely not going in our favor, _Liz groaned through their connection. _If we have to do Death Cannon for every witch, we'll be mincemeat in five minutes! _Patty cackled, but her sister and meister could detect the subtle undercurrent of fear that lurked in her laugh. All three of them were scared, and rightfully so.

"We have to end this," Kid whispered tersely.

_No! _Liz argued. _We have to retreat. If you keep being so stubborn we'll all end up killed. What's one little retreat? Your pride isn't the most important thing at stake here!_

Dumbfounded, the young reaper stared at the silver barrel encasing his right arm. "Pride...?" he questioned, then quickly dodged another fireball. _Pride isn't what I'm concerned about, _he continued silently, _i__t's my father. I can't fail him, not on this important mission._

Liz was almost beyond exasperation. _Look, he won't judge you for one failed mission. We've failed plenty before, remember? The - _she coughed, hesitantly continuing, hoping her words wouldn't set off an OCD attack - _pyramid of Anubis one? Our souls got confiscated. Your dad didn't tell you off for that. He'll understand. Now we have to go!_

Slowly seeming to process her words, Kid watched blankly as a witch readied a small jet of energy. At the last second it registered and he rolled away, coughing. "Retreat...?"

_YES! _Liz roared, patience gone. _LET'S GET MOVING!_

Kid sluggishly summoned Beelzebub and hopped on, speeding away to the jeering catcalls of the witches. "Scaredy-cat!" "Stupid Shinigami brat!" "Too _weak_ to fight us?" "I knew he was a coward." "He's a total failure." "His father won't like this, nooo~?" With each insult, the reaper winced until finally they faded into the distance. Both Thompsons exchanged worried glances from the weird space they inhabited while in weapon form. The Death Cannons had melted away in a quick pink flash to their original gun forms.

"... Kid-kun?" Patty tried catiously. He didn't answer, just kept staring ahead.

"It's no use, Patty," Liz whispered. "Just give him time to cool off. He'll be fine by tomorrow. Let him sleep this little problem away, and we'll go to school tomorrow and give Lord Death a full report. At least we managed to snatch one of those witch souls, yeah?" The younger sister nodded glumly, face projecting on the gleaming silver of her gun form.

She may act stupid, but she really wasn't. In Patty Thompson's mind, everything was a toy, or a giraffe, or some other strange made-up creature. Kid was special. He was like a clock. And somehow, retreating had broken the clock. It was still ticking, but the second hand would freeze up, the hour hand moved far too slowly, the minute hand jerked about. Something was askew in all the gears and levers holding his thoughts together. Patty was good at making things, paper origami but one example, and when you can make something well you can usually fix it almost as easily. But for the first time... she didn't know how to fix it. Well, she had an inkling, but hopefully it would clear up once they talked to Lord Death...

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Ah, hello, Liz and Patty! Wassup? How'd the mission go?" Lord Death called enthusiastically through the mirror connection. The sisters grinned wearily, the smile not quite reaching their eyes. Currently they were standing in front of the tall, ornate mirror adorning the exact middle of the wall in the living room of the mansion. Something was missing, though. Kid. He'd locked himself in his room the minute they'd returned home and wouldn't come out, so his weapons decided it would be easier to contact Lord Death from home. After all, he didn't really seem to sleep, so what was the harm?

"We... ah, had to retreat," Liz informed him awkwardly.

Lord Death pondered this for a moment, then shrugged and 'hmm'ed. "That's okay! But, where's Kiddo?" Neither answered. "I see. He's a bit thrown off by this, isn't he? I assume he's locked himself away in his bedroom?" They nodded, still awkward. "He'll be okay. Give him a while to get over this - it may take some time, but I'm sure it'll blow over eventually."

Patty giggled and saluted. "Of course, mister!" Liz pursed her lips and jerked her head in what she hoped was an acceptable nod, then ended the call. She glanced at the younger sister out of the corner of her eye. The normally bubbly, energetic blonde had fallen silent. "Kid-kun's not okay, is he, sis?"

"No." She sighed. "He's not."

******XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"YAHOOO~! BOW BEFORE YOUR GOD!"

"Ugh," Liz groaned. "Does he _ever _shut up?" Tsubaki smiled apologetically and tried to coax her meister down from the center cone of the middle of the DWMA. Finally complying, the spiky-haired nuisance thudded to the ground in front of the rest of the group.

Surveying them for a moment, BlackStar commented, "Hey, where's Kid? Didn't think a goody-two-shoes like him would miss school. Right, Maka? That's how all you bookworms and teacher's pets think!" Laughing uproariously, he failed to notice the deadly book spine on collision course with his face.

"Right, now that that's settled," Maka said smoothly, dusting off her coat and tapping her book threateningly against a palm. "Anyone else have any 'bookworm' comments?" Soul looked like he was going to open his mouth, but after a murderous look from his meister, cowered behind Liz instead.

The elder Thompson growled. "Go away." Shoving the albino scythe off to the side, she stalked towards the doors, followed closely by a VERY unusually subdued Patty. The rest of their team stared after them, baffled, exchanging raised eyebrows and 'wtf?' looks. (Minus BlackStar, of course. He was still out cold.)

Halfway through class, Stein had started talking about witches and their attacking abilities, when he moved on to their 'call signals.' Apparently they had a silent way of calling for help in a crisis. Fed up with this, and more than a little ticked off by the subject of the lesson, Liz stood up and snapped, "This is bullshit. Let's go, Patty. This isn't getting us anywhere, and we've got a meister to watch." The younger nodded and sprung up from her desk, following her sister out the door. Stein watched them, the light obscuring his eyes through the lenses of his glasses, calculating exactly what the demon gun had said.

"Um, professor?" Maka raised her hand. He waved at her to continue. "Can we go speak with Lord Death?" All she got was a grunt, which she nervously took as a 'yes.' She hoped it wasn't a 'I'm-not-listening-because-I'm-pondering-how-best-to-dissect-you' grunt. That would be bad.

The team stood up (BlackStar had regained consciousness) and filed out of the classroom. Shuffling down the hallway, Tsubaki asked quietly, "I wonder what's wrong with Kid."

Her meister perked up. "Yeah, maybe his house got demolished or something and he has to fix it."

"You idiot," Maka rolled her eyes. "The mission they were on was way out in Wisconsin. He went on a witch-hunt."

"I hope he didn't defeat too many witches! I should be the one to attack their stronghold!" the assassin boasted. "It's gonna be me! It's my destiny!" He received a quick Maka Chop and Tsubaki ended up dragging him along.

"Didn't you guys hear?" Soul grumbled, finally speaking up.

The others stopped. "Hear what?" Maka inquired warily.

"About Kid's mission." Seeing their confused looks, the scythe rolled his eyes and sighed. "I hear they had to retreat. The witch they were fighting was almost beat when she called for help. I heard a whole coven showed up. I _think_ Kid got injured, but he's probably fine now, being a reaper. Anyways. So he got nicked, and Liz and Patty had to yell at him a bunch of times. The moment they said retreat he froze up. Or at least, that's what Patty told me."

Maka's jaw dropped. "She told _you _and not the rest of us?"

Soul shrugged. "I asked her via note in class. We were both bored and Liz was zoning out."

By this time they'd resumed walking, and had reached the door to the Death Room. Maka knocked, and the door swung open. BlackStar woke up and started running ahead, only held back by Tsubaki. After a bit of a struggle, they managed to make it to the platform to find Lord Death in conversation with somebody on his mirror. Peering curiously at it, the four students raised eyebrows as it was a fuming Liz yelling something _at Death, _a crying Patty just behind her. The team gasped, and the connection ended as Lord Death turned to face them.

"Yes?" he asked cheerfully, but there was a small strain in his normally enthusiastic voice. "Do you have a question?"

Maka stepped up. "Yes, sir. We want to ask about Kid."

The mood turned grave as the eldest reaper studied them for a moment. Finally, he spoke, although it was a weary and faraway kind of tone. "You want to know why he didn't come to school. Why he's so upset. I'm afraid, that's something you should find out on your own. Go to the Gallows. He could use some friends right now." With that, he tapped the mirror, and the team gazed at it, dumbstruck. It was a view of the entranceway to Kid's mansion. "Step through!" Lord Death encouraged. Hesitantly, Maka and the others complied, finding to their astonishment the minute they stepped through they found themselves inside the hall. Spinning around, there was nothing there, just the front doors.

"Hello?" Tsubaki called. "Liz? Patty? It's us!"

"What do you want?" came the muffled growl. Frowning, Soul tried to pick out where the sisters were, then froze instantly as he felt a chill crawl up his spine. Turning slowly in unison with the others, they came face to face with Patty... holding a gun. Liz, obviously. "Why are you here?" Patty asked in a singsong voice.

BlackStar took a deep breath, then started. "We came to see Kid!" he bellowed. The gun moved until it was aimed squarely at his forehead.

"Go away," Patty snarled. "Kid-kun doesn't want to talk."

"Lord Death sent us hear!" Tsubaki pleaded. "Let us try... please? Maybe if all of us work together, he'll at least say something?"

A brief spark of - was that hope? - bloomed in Patty's eyes, only to harden again. Not all the way, though... "Fine," she agreed grudgingly, after conferring silently with her sister. Liz transformed back and both guns narrowed their eyes at the team. "His room's this way," the younger Thompson announced abruptly, waving them along several hallways and up a flight of stairs. There it was, a jet-black door with a small silver skull painted expertly in the middle. Ornate letter spelled 'Death the Kid' below the symbol.

Maka tapped the door cautiously. "Kid?" she called. No answer. "Your father sent us! He wanted to know how you're doi-" She shrieked and leaped back as the door was unexpectedly flung open. There was Kid, golden eyes burning, teeth bared in a feral snarl, shoulders tense and shadows subtly roiling around his feet.

"My father?" he spat. "Don't pretend he cares. This is my fault, I failed and he has every right to hate me."

"No!" Tsubaki protested. "He loves you. He wanted to make sure you were alright. He was _worried_."

This threw the reaper off for a moment - but only a moment - as his eyes widened infinitesimally. "Why would he care?" His tone had dropped to a sudden whisper. "It doesn't make sense. I- I've... failed. I had to _retreat._"

"And he doesn't blame you for that," Liz soothed, clearly trying to pick up the slack. "I'm sure he'd rather you retreated than got yourself killed unnecessarily."

The reaper shook his head, bitter again. "No. It doesn't matter what you say. I _failed. _I _retreated. _I wasn't _strong enough._ He hates me. He should hate me." The fire faded from his usually brilliant, two-toned eyes, leaving them dull and colorless. It was much worse than when he was angry. "I never fail. I never retreat. I'm... I'm _supposed _to be strong. I don't deserve his love." And with that, the door slammed in their faces again.

**XXXXXX********XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Lord Death!" Liz started the instant the mirror rippled to show the Reaper's spiky form. "Tell us what Kid means!"

"Woah, slow down there!" he said, trying to placate her. "What did he say?"

BlackStar stepped forward. "He said he never fails. Something like that. What's the big deal?"

"Oh..." Lord Death let out a long sigh. "That's why." Seeing their exasperated (this was all getting _way _too confusing) expressions, he explained. "I've sent Kid on many missions, most before he met Liz and Patty here. Every single one, since the age of two when he left the house without me noticing - defeated a Kishin egg at that age, I was very proud - he has come back successful to some degree. Almost always it's completed perfectly, just the way he prefers it. Other times it's less perfect, like the Anubis incident. But never once - _never - _has he ever retreated. No matter what the cost, he comes back victorious. I'm afraid this was a huge blow to his self-confidence." Another sigh. "This was unfortunately my fault as well. I wasn't there for him like I should have been, since his early days. I made excuses to myself... I can be a huge procrastinator, you see. Kid's always thought I expect far more of him than I actually do. His progress _is _amazing, I'll give him that, but he pushes himself to hard." Lord Death shook his head slowly. "This time... I'm the only one who should be apologizing. Speeeeeeaking of which..." - he stepped through the mirror, eliciting a yelp from Maka and Soul, while Liz and Patty just watched, used to it - "I should get in there and say a proper sorry."

"He locked the door," Soul pointed out.

Lord Death shrugged. "No problem." Gliding down the hallway, he just... _melted _through the door? BlackStar pouted and mumbled something along the lines of 'surpass- showoff- gods- star- yahoo...' Tsubaki prodded her meister with a frown.

"Kid?" Lord Death asked softly, making his way through the darkness in his son's room. There wasn't a single light on - but both he and Kid could see perfectly. Being a Reaper was especially beneficial sometimes. "You have to stop hiding. This isn't helping anybody."

The reply was muffled, seing as said reaper was lying on his stomach on his bed with his face buried in a pillow. "I don't care. I failed. I should be locked away for eternity."

His father sighed (again). "Look, Kiddo, I know it's not easy being a young Reaper. Hell, I had to go through with it myself! But you need to tell me when something's wrong. I won't hate you. I swore I'd never make my father's mistakes."

"I just wanted to be someone you're proud of," Kid whispered brokenly. "I've never failed before, because each time I suceeded - every time - it made you happy. And now... I retreated. You taught me the Shinigami's Code. We _never_ give up. And I did."

"No, son!" his father said gently. "I couldn't be more proud of you. The fact that you retreated shows you're more than ready to start your growth into being a full Shinigami. Just you wait. I-" the rest of his sentence was drowned out by an enraged yell from outside and a resounding crash as the door busted in to reveal a very impatient BlackStar. For once Kid couldn't eve. Be bothered about how asymmetrical the mess was, as he sat up to face the group. He'd barely managed to catch what his father had said, but it brought back memories of a happier time. He knew he wasn't perfect... but sometimes, that's alright.

**XXXXXX********XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Hey, what's taking you so long?" BlackStar yelled back to Kid, who was trailing the group with a bad limp. Turns out the burn was worse than he thought, and for all his healing power it was only just starting to fade. They had decided to get to the basketball courts and play a quick game before reporting for a group mission they were leaving on tomorrow.

Grumbling, he was about to open his mouth to retort, when a flying book appeared out of nowhere and knocked BlackStar into next Friday. (No, literally - he hit a kid named Friday, a rather annoying, arrogant, supercilious prat who went to the DWMA.) "Thanks, Maka," Kid grinned. She returned the smile and fistbumped him. For a moment the reaper paused, looking down at his fist, then held out the other one. "Symmetry?"

"Some things never change," the scythe meister laughed, fistbumping him again with her other hand.

_Some things don't,_ he agreed inwardly. Kid smiled slightly as he remembered his father's words, ones he'd make sure never to lose sight of again.

_"After all, I made you a promise..."_

* * *

**Aww... a happy ending... XD**

**Did anybody catch the two references I threw in there? ;D well... three... one from the Soul Eater manga...**

**So I DID post a list of all the oneshots I'm going to do, but I changed my mind. From now on it's open to prompts and requests (although if there are some slow lulls I do have ideas of my own...) so basically, the next three or four chapters are probably going to be a drawn-out minific requested by mah bestie friend... *drumroll* ... Matsukaze Tenma! *applause* ^.^ *huggles Tenma-chan***

**Until next chapter...**

**_~DeaththeKidKat_  
**


	2. Mirror Mirror Part 1

**Oh. My. God. I LOVE YOU GUYS! :DDDD I checked my email last night after I posted, and there were no notifications, so I started freaking out that nobody liked it. Then during lunch I checked again and there were FOUR REVIEWS ALREADY! *explodes* thank you, to...**

YouCanCallMe MrsMalfoy: **I know ^.^ I love their father/son relationship. You'll be seeing plenty more, don't worry ;)  
**VilaDeath: **... I can't tell if you're the VilaDeath I know, and you're just not signed in, or someone else... XD but anyways yes. I couldn't help the Friday thing. I HAD TO DO IT.  
**KuriSari: **I will, don't worry! :DDD I promise to finish this, no matter what. ;D  
**Cyanide 6: **thank you! I'm glad they didn't seem too OOC... ^.^' I love Friday now. Should I make him appear more? (did you catch the references? ;3)**

**Well, that's it for now... thanks, and hope you like these next few chapters! They were a prompt from mah bestie, Ten-chan (go search her as Matsukaze Tenma, give her a hug from me ;D). I'm not going to tell you the prompt, actually... it will spoil the plot... ;P**

**This could be seen as taking place right after the events of Father's Promise. See it that way if you wish. But I won't mention it much (other than maybe adding Friday again XDD) so don't be too surprised.**

* * *

Mirror Mirror

* * *

_"Don't ever lose this, Kid," Lord Death instructed his son quietly. "It was a gift. It will keep you safe."_

_Kid blinked, his golden three year old eyes innocent and wide. "A gift? Can I ever see the person who gave it?"_

_His father choked up for a minute. "No, Kiddo. She's not coming back."  
Lord Death and Kid (age three)_

* * *

"Come on, guys! Hurry up!" BlackStar yelled. "We're gonna reach the basketball courts by next year at this rate."

Maka stuck her tongue out at him. "We're taking our time. That way our team will beat you because _we're _well-rested." Then she pointed to the quiet shinigami behind her. "Plus, we've got Kid on our side. You'll lose within the first five minutes." Kid raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment.

"You'll never beat me!" BlackStar boasted. "I'm so big, you're an ant!" Kid started to roll his eyes when Soul of all people chimed in.

"Why are you always fighting? You're both idiots," the scythe scoffed. "Where'd you get it, your mothers? I'm guessing... a loud angry assassin and a symmetry-freak female reaper?" He'd meant it as a joke, and BlackStar laughed (mostly because he'd never known his mom and didn't care much), but Kid had frozen with his mouth slightly open, eyes wide. Soul shifted uncomfortably. "Uh, Kid?" He waved a hand in front of the reaper's face. The golden eyes didn't track it. "Toilet paper? Painting? Did you figure out what BlackStar and I broke the other day?"

That snapped the meister out of his trance... for the worse. Slamming Soul against a wall nearby, he snarled, "What? _What _did you break?"

Soul gulped. "Uh- um- I don't know- it was BlackStar's idea, some joke he cooked up- a mirror of some sort? We figured you had tons, anywa-"

"What. Did. It. _Look like?"_

"I don't know!" he exclaimed. "It had the usual skull pattern on it, and um- some vines? And stars? Let go!" Struggling even harder, he tried to restrain himself from pulling out the scythe blade. But Kid had frozen up again. After a moment he released Soul, only to stare off into the distance. The albino readied a glare, but it faltered when he realized...

Kid was crying.

Silent tears slipped down his cheeks as his unfocused eyes stared off into the distance. He staggered and whispered, "... broken? It can't be..." He crumpled to the floor, slowly tangling his hands in jet-black-and-white-striped hair. "Fix it!" he sobbed. "Fix it!" The team looked on, horrified. Liz and Patty dropped to their knees, ready to comfort their meister, when he screamed. _"JUST FIX IT!" _

"Kid, what's wrong? What is this mirror?" Maka asked frantically, also lowering herself to the shinigami's level.

Before she could touch her friends shoulder, a pair of shadows knocked her hand back. The three girls all stumbled back, shocked. A small roiling cloud had formed at Kid's feet, twisting as he cried. "Father told me never to lose it... what do I do if it's broken? It's all I have left of-" Once again, he froze, then looked up at Soul. His glistening eyes turned cold as ice. "You!" he spat. "You insulted her too! And now all I have left is gone!" Screwing up his face, he shrieked, "JUST _DIE!"_

Then the shadows produced Beelzebub, which he leaped upon and sped off. The dark shapes dissipated, but the group managed to catch Kid's parting words. "I'll never forgive you! _I never want to see you again!_"

And he was gone.

* * *

**phew... I finished it... ^.^' okay. I know. You're probably thinking, 'wtf? What's with Kid's tantrum?' More on the mirror later. Can you guess who gave it to him? ;D**

**I think I'll expand this into three more chapters. Depends. Do you have a preference, Ten-chan? *hands brownie* :3  
**

**See ya~!  
**

**_~DeaththeKidKat_  
**


	3. Mirror Mirror Part 2

**Chapter three, yay! ^.^ alright, hope you're not all too depressed by all these emotional depressed!Kid fics. Unfortunately, in this one, he's gonna stay that way until chapter five... maybe six... aka chapter four/five of this minific. Hmm...  
**

Cyanide 6: **Correct. Good eye. ;) Well, I did try to make it rather obvious... =^.^= and what was the reference? Guess if you want. (that goes for all of you, in the first chapter... GUESS THE REFERENCE. I WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK. o.O  
**KuriSari: **D****'aww, don't we all? :c don't worry, I'll make sure and give him a plushie. ^3^  
**8fangirl8: **YAY a loyal reviewer! ;D you get a cookie. And a giraffe. Wait, wh- PATTY! NO, GIVE IT BACK! I NEED THAT AS A GIFT FOR A REVIEWER! -3- grr...  
**Annerizu-san: **C****orrect! Ding ding ding! You get a cookie too. Although I think I'll leave the giraffes to Patty... *eye twitch***

**wellllll... I think that's it. ;) on to the next chapter!**

* * *

Mirror Mirror  
_Part 2_

* * *

_"Hey, chichiue?" Kid called. His father was facing his mirror and turned slowly to find his son holding up an ornate golden mirror.  
_

_"I always meant to ask... when is Mother coming back?"  
-Death the Kid, age six_

* * *

"Well..." BlackStar started shrewdly. "That was extreme."

"You idiot!" Liz shrieked. "That mirror was connected to his mother somehow! He never let us _come near_ it, let alone touch it. And you _broke it?_You have no idea how bad that must feel for him!"

The assassin pouted. "Calm down, we didn't mean any harm! Let's go ask Lord Death to fix it or something."

"You don't understand," Patty growled, but they started the trek up to the DWMA anyways. Climbing up the steps, a livid Maka herded both boys along, tapping a book against her palm as a threat. They knocked on the large ornate door to the Death Room, which swung open, letting them in. The group of six walked along in complete silence until reaching the platform, when Maka finally exploded. Whipping out a dictionary, she performed an impressive double-Chop that nailed both her partner and BlackStar square in the forehead. They slumped to the floor, whining in pain.

"Why did you break it?" Lord Death asked quietly. BlackStar and Soul looked up, startled. "The mirror?" the Reaper continued. "I want to know why you broke it. Did Kid do something to deserve it?"

"Ah- well, not really," Soul admitted awkwardly. "We've broken stuff before to annoy him, and he always just freaked out, then laughed with us later."

Lord Death whirled around, a terrifying aura of fury radiating off of him. "And?" he snarled. "Anything else? You destroyed the _one thing_ he had left of his mother just to _annoy him?_"

Both boys gulped. "Uh... yes?" BlackStar suggested meekly. Both of them were shaking in fear at the absolute anger pouring in waves off of the normally jolly Reaper.

"You're both fools." His tone had suddenly fallen into a soft, weary anger. "Both of you. Get out of my sight. And don't you dare come near my son ever again. I think you've caused him enough heartache." Seeing the looks on Maka and Tsubaki's faces, he waved a hand slowly. "No," he continued tiredly, "you two are fine. Why don't you go home. Liz, Patty, keep an eye on Kid for now. I'll be home later. All four of you girls can try and cheer him up tomorrow."

All of them plodded out down the long guillotine hallway in dead quiet. As soon as they were out, Maka punched Soul and BlackStar each in the face. Tsubaki and the Thompsons were shocked - Maka didn't punch. She hit people with books, but she didn't punch. "Look what you did!" the scythe meister screamed. "Now you'll never be friends with Kid again. That's your own fault. You should be glad, _Soul, _that I didn't leave you as well."

Tsubaki joined in softly, but still angry. "You've got a lot of broken trust to fix."

The two boys stared at their shoes somberly.

_Not cool, _Soul thought glumly.

BlackStar sighed inwardly. _Damn. We should never have broken that mirror._

The three pairs split up, each going their separate ways. None of them noticed the four small pinpricks of purple light hovering high above, nor the sobbing figure that sat on the skateboard. He went unnoticed.

Of course, in a grieving child's mind, this was interpreted as one thought -

_No one cares. Not anymore..._

* * *

** :c don't worry, he'll cheer up eventually... maybe...**

**Two more chapters to go in this arc!  
**

**_~DeaththeKidKat~_  
**


	4. Mirror Mirror Part 3

**Guess what? I finally got around to it! :DDD Update!**

8fangirl8: ***sniffle* don't we all? Kid is such a tragic character. Sigh... ^_^ Patty would love to give you your cookie. In fact, she would love all the cookies in the world (for herself). Thankfully Kid and Liz prevent that from happening - I don't even want to think about all the ways she could destroy the world. *shudder*  
**Annerizu-san: **Kid is so happy somebody appreciates him. He's giving you a hug. *transmits Kid huggle*  
**VilaDeath: **XDDD That review made my day. I cracked up and my brother gave me a really weird look. (We were sitting in the car and I had loaded my email earlier at home to look at on my iPod... O_o)**

******Kay think that's all! Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

_(contd. from last chapter)  
Lord Death froze and turned slowly. "What was that?"_

_Kid looked innocently up to his father, eyes wide. "When's Mother coming back?"_

_"Kiddo..." the elder reaper began softly. "She's not... that is, never coming back."  
-Lord Death and Kid (age_ six)-

* * *

"Hey, has anybody seen Kid?" Liz called to her sister. Patty raced up the stairs, panting, and shook her head. "Damn," the older Thompson cursed. "We've gotta find him before he decides to... I don't know. Let's just hurry." Both girls took off down the street, searching everywhere with flashlights. It was getting dark.

Still no-one noticed the object of their search sitting all alone in the dark sky, lying on his back on his skateboard and gazing at the stars with dead golden eyes that didn't seem to even care anymore.

"Maka!" Patty yelled, pounding on the scythe meister's door. The twin pistols leapt back in fright as the door was flung open and said sandy-haired meister appeared in the doorway, tapping a bloody book against her palm with eyes almost literally blazing with green sparks.

"Come for some punishment too, BlackStar?" she snarled, then realized who was quivering on her front step and calmed down. "Oh, hi, Liz and Patty."

They shivered a moment more before composing themselves. "Have you seen Kid?" Liz asked worriedly.

Maka's eyes widened and she looked around frantically. "No! Don't tell me he's gone missing?"

"We don't know," Patty mumbled. Liz sighed.

"Well... did he fly off somewhere?" Maka suggested. The Thompson's jaws dropped.

_Did we **really** not think of that? _Liz berated herself. Patty slammed her head against the doorframe. (She has very odd ways of expressing discontent. Whereas most people would facepalm, Patty has a... _tendency _to hit things. Hard things. Hard. With her head.)

After shooting a nervous glance at Patty, Maka stepped out onto the balcony and searched the sky for a moment. Squinting, she pointed up. "There. I didn't know we had purple stars."

The sisters crowded past her and narrowed their eyes at the sky as well. "Those aren't stars," Liz breathed. "It's Kid's skateboard! We found him!" She and Patty hugged Maka simultaneously, nearly strangling the poor meister. "Thanks! Want to come with us? We've gotta get him down now."

Patty cackled. "Oh, don't worry about that one. I have my ways."

Both girls assembled eyed her warily, although Liz was more used to it.

A groan from inside the apartment drew their attention. Soul, bloody and with several bandages around his forehead, was dragging himself across the floor on his stomach in an attempt (which was becoming a varying degree of successful) to escape his sadistic partner. He obviously didn't notice her standing on the balcony and let out a very un-cool shriek when he noticed her standing over him with the dictionary. "I've still got words for you," she said evilly, grinning like a madman. Or, in their freaky world, like Stein. "Stay here." He whimpered and curled up under the coffee table. "Shall we go?" Maka asked the Thompsons brightly. They eyed each other, then Maka.

"Sure..."

They ran off down the streets - after locking the apartment and giving instructions to Blair to fry Soul if he so much as twitched near the door - in search of a high place they could yell at Kid from.

_This just gets weirder and weirder... _Liz thought, resigned. They found a tall belltower that was only about fifty feet from the errant reaper. He continued to stare at the stars from his place on the skateboard, not even acknowledging them.

"Kid!" Patty yelled. "Get your ass over here now, damn you!"

No effect. Strange, those words (and that tone...) had always seemed to work before. Nope, this was a special case, Patty could see that already. She felt like cackling but knew that would freak Maka out a little too much. No fun.

"Kid!" Maka tried. "Come on, we're all waiting for you to come home! Your father's worried sick!"

Still no reaction. Ooookay... time for the other sisters' turn.

"God. Damn. It!" Liz practically shrieked. "Get down off of that skateboard _right now_ or I swear I'll freaking kill you!"

Kid seemed to start a bit, but still didn't move. Sighing, the sisters exchanged a glance. Maka groaned. "Why do I get the feeling he's going to like this a lot less than you two?"

Patty cackled. (Finally.) "It'll be fun! Right sis? We're just... _encouraging_ Kid to come down. Nothing more...~"

Quickly, she pulled a rope out of her jacket and fashioned a noose in less than fifteen seconds. Handing one end to Liz to keep her steady, the insane blonde giggled and tossed the makeshift lasso out expertly, tightening it around the end of Beelzebub and slowly reeling her meister in. When he reached them, they stopped the board and looked down in surprise.

"Oh," Maka whispered.

Liz finished for her, gazing down at the peaceful form of her meister.

"He's asleep."

* * *

**D'aww... :3 Kid's so cute! Hehe. I think I'll lengthen the next chapter so it's a niiiice loooong epilogue. ^.^ happy? So what do you guys think, happy ending (all forgiven, yada yada yada), semihappy ending (mostly forgiven, some hard feelings and icy pauses), or depressing ending (somebody dies. :DDD)? I'd appreciate the feedback!**

**_~DeaththeKidKat~_**


	5. Mirror Mirror Part 4

**Yes, yes, I know. It's been forever. -3- I have no excellent, worthy excuses besides this one: Marvel Avengers. Yes. I am OBSESSED. I've already seen it twice, which is awesome considering it came out two or three weeks ago, and I am rather proud of myself. I've started writing a fic about it, in fact, which you will hopefully see posted very soon. *evil chuckle* It will all be revealed very soon...**

**Back to this story. I was unsure for the longest time of what the HELL I was doing for the epilogue, but I promised you guys a nice angsty epilogue so I tied myself to a chair and stared at my laptop for about half an hour. Reading all the new chapters that I got alerts for. ^.^; And voila, I have an idea! Let's hope this doesn't suck. Sigh. I must say it probably won't be as long as some of you would probably like either.**

theotakuprincessofgotham: **Agreed. Want to help me with my angry mob? :D**  
Mina88: **Thank you! G****lad you like it!**  
Annerizu-san: **XD Kid accepts your hug only because I was already hugging him and together we were symmetrical. And he says the cookie was lovely but Patty s****tole most of it. **  
Riku Ashwood: **We****ll, don't take this the wrong way, but yay! If you cried that probably means you liked it and that makes meh happeeee. ^3^ Kid is adorable. Enough said.  
**Cyanide 6: **Thanks for the input! Yes, I agree, it's so much more fun when he gets hurt. Well, slightly. :3 Or majorly. I'm good either way XD  
**8fangirl8: **Oh, he'll get revenge, don't worry... *cackles** **evilly***  
YouCanCallMe MrsMalfoy: **Maka will have a bit of an important role, but although I do read them I don't tend to write pairing fics... of any kind. There may be some light romance later on in different oneshots, but only probably because I will have run out of themes for this. -3- Romance isn't my thing. Whump is. XD**

**Oh right, then there's my other excuse! (^.^;7) Sherlock. BBC Sherlock to be specific. If you have seen s02e03 you will know what I am talking about. To sum it up? I was a WRECK. We all were (except for sesame. damn you.) sobbing our eyes out and hiccup-laughing. I'm sure Hannah broke that cucumber over sesame's head (or was it shoulder?) gladly. -.o  
**

**ON WITH THE CHAPTER, OR THIS WILL END UP BEING LONGER THAN THE STORY. O_o**

* * *

Mirror Mirror  
_Part 4_

* * *

_(contd. from last chapter)  
Kid pouted. "Why not? Doesn't she love me anymore?"_

_Lord Death sighed and ruffled his hair. "Kiddo, she'll always love you. She's just moved on to a different home."  
_

_"But I can keep her mirror, right?"  
_

_"Of course you can. Keep it close, and she'll keep you safe... forever."  
-Lord Death and Kid (age six)-_

* * *

"Let's get him back to Gallows Mansion," Liz whispered. They carefully maneuvered the skateboard down off of the tower, then pulled Kid along the nighttime streets until they reached the typical skull gates. Kid's OCD helped for once, in that the gates were well oiled and slid open without a sound. Once inside they guided him onto the bed and set Beelzebub - which had stopped floating once its master's touch was taken - against the middle of the wall. (Exact middle. Maka whipped out a tape measure to be sure.)_  
_

"We... leave him here?" the scythe meister suggested. Liz and Patty nodded, and all three girls slipped out silently.

For a while they sat in the kitchen, Liz busy fixing a quick meal of pasta with carbonara sauce***1*** and all of them shooting somewhat-covert glances at the staircase that led upstairs. After what seemed like a year but was really more like an hour the doorbell rang and Patty answered, pulling a pocketknife the second she realized who was standing on the front step.

Soul and BlackStar leapt back with identical girly screams. Patty laughed maniacally and chased them around the yard with the blade until Liz reluctantly ordered her to stand down and instead march the two 'prisoners' into the living room, where Maka was waiting eagerly with a book. Soul whimpered and curled up in a ball, only unfurling when Patty held the switchblade to his throat.

"What are you doing here?" Liz snarled.

Soul gulped. "We got a weird mirror IM... it said to come here..."

"Who was it from?" Maka asked dangerously.

"Uh..." BlackStar's gaze darted about, as if looking for an escape. "It just said 'come fix it' and was signed D. Wouldn't that stand for Dallows?"

"It's _Gallows,"_ the three girls growled in unison. Tsubaki came bursting through the door, and when she spotted BlackStar she hurried over.

"I was looking everywhere!"

BlackStar grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, well, the Awesome Me got a MIM***2*** and I had to hightail it over here right away."

Maka rolled her eyes. "You idiot. Wouldn't D stand for _Death?"_

"Oh, right..."

"Which Death? There's Kid, and there's Lord Death," Liz pointed out. "It could have been either of them. Although it does make more sense if it was LORD Death, because Kid's up in his room, asleep. Whatever. I think I know where the fragments are - want me to go get them?"

"I have them."

Everyone spun around in shock to face Kid, who was standing in front of the mirror in the dining room. In his hands were a dozen shards of broken mirror glass. But the worst part was that the young shinigami looked like he was... well, a ghost. It was as if they could see the wall behind him. Oh, wait- _they could._

Liz let out a startled shriek and leaped towards her meister, but he shrugged her off. "Don't worry, Liz. It's not that bad. You can still touch me, see?" He placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm just not entirely... solid."

"Because of that mirror?" Maka whispered.

Kid's expression iced over and his tone was clipped. "Yes. It can't be fixed."

"What?" Soul yelped. "Then why did you- or your dad, or whatever- call us here and said 'fix it?'"

"Even if you can't fix the material, you can fix the spirit."

Gallows Mansion fell silent. Nobody dared even breathe. (Well, BlackStar did, he just got a lot quieter.) For the longest time, Maka felt like she was teetering on the edge of a cliff, then she steeled herself and asked, "What can we do to help? Can we make you, er, solid again?"

"No." Kid heaved a sigh. "The mirror is my strongest tie to the human world. Without it I cannot truly exist in full here. Part of my soul is now permanently stuck in the Grim World. But I can still fight, pull the trigger, everything. Except for certain things, one of those being you cannot hit me with a soul wavelength and you cannot injure me, although I can't say the same for Asura. His Madness scarves could probably make contact. And my father, naturally."

"So then... what do we do to 'fix the spirit?'" BlackStar snorted.

"Apologize," Kid stated calmly, fixing him with an even gaze. "If you can be truly sorry for something that has more impact than you can imagine, then the part of me that roils and turns in the Grim World will be at peace. If you do not repent, I can't promise that I can control myself from attacking you and possibly killing you. And don't even TRY boasting that I can't - you know as well as I that I can."

It hit Soul in the face like a ton of bricks. Because of their stupid mistake, a teammate was, uh, _not solid._ He couldn't go back to being normal, he couldn't even control himself from killing them, something he clearly didn't want to do no matter how much damage they had inflicted. It was their fault, and their burden. Even if BlackStar was an unemotional idiot, the albino scythe at least was sorry. Truly sorry. "Kid, I- uh, it wasn't cool. Not at all. I'm... sorry, uh. Yeah. If you don't want me to be your teammate, uh, you've got every right. I- I, uh, take the blame. It was BlackStar's idea but I was the first to step on it."***3***

Kid smiled. "I forgive you. And I still want to be your teammate, although I must say our resonance will take a bit of fine tuning." Soul grinned.

BlackStar, seeing he was the center of attention (in a bad way, incidentally), cleared his throat and looked down at his feet. "Right. Uh, sorry. I mean, you didn't deserve it. And the Great and Holy Me was being a jackass."

"Yeah, you were," the shinigami shot back dryly. "But it's okay. You do realize there's no way you can beat me in a fight now, right?"

"You wanna bet?"

"Hell yes."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

And so the next day found Soul, Maka, BlackStar, and Tsubaki facing off in front of the school, opposite Kid, who refused to even wield Liz and Patty. The sisters didn't actually protest, just smirked and settled themselves comfortably on the steps in front of the doors, next to Stein, who had agreed to referee (only because he wanted to see how good Kid was, and depending on the outcome who to dissect).

The battle raged for over an hour, but several explosions later, Kid walked away dusting off his slightly nonexistent suit with not even a scratch, leaving an unconcious pair of boys, a panting and furious Maka, and a frantic Tsubaki behind. Liz and Patty fell in step behind him as he made his way calmly into the school, Patty flipping Soul and BlackStar off behind his back.

All was right with the world...

and Kid got his revenge.

* * *

**EET EEZ SO SHORT. SHOOT ME NOW. Rawr. But Kid got his revenge. ^3^**

*1*** I can make this. It's really good. *drools***

*2*** MIM = Mirror Instant Message. Yes, I made it up. Bask in the glory.**

*3*** Soul's apology was a try (and fail) at being cool. As always, eh? XD**

**Reviews, prompts, suggestions welcome! If you want to see a certain oneshot written, inform me!**

**_~DeaththeKidKat~_  
**


	6. Of Swimming and Seas

**Okay, so now that I've done a bunch of deep depressing one-shots (XD five chapters? Really?), it's on to the lighter stuff! ^.^ Lots of humor. And a bit of OCD. ;P**

8fangirl8: YESH. :3 I was going to make the battle scene longer, but I kind of ran out of time/suck at battle scenes... -3-; and the Avengers is FREAKING AWESOME. Have you read any of the fanfics yet? There are over a thousand already! :DDDD  
Cyanide 6: Yeah, Soul and BlackStar are idiots. -.- and I don't really know... I tend not to do romance/pairing stuff, but I might try my hand at it soon. I was going to do one or two KidLiz fics in here, but idk. We'll see.  
Annerizu-san: MIM is totally made up, but I SOOO wish it were real. I'm one of the kids who doesn't text on the bus - instead I'm either writing fanfiction in my oh-so-handy journal or drawing. Or laughing about anime scenes and inside jokes nobody gets with my best friend. XD _sesame2009: PURPLE PASGHETTI._  
Argentcoeur: It's okay. I actually thought it was funny too, I just wrote it because a friend requested it. Don't ask about the ghost thing - it was totally a split-second decision. Could be the marshmallows I was dipping in cold chocolate milk and munching on... :3  
Vampireninja101: Thank you!  
Riku Ashwood: Yes... ^.^ sorta. But Kid got his revenge, so... yay!  
Leylani-sama: Thanks! I like the little dialogues, they put things in a little better perspective for me. But I'm just weird ^.^  
Mina888: YES. SEE IT. IT IS THE BEST MOVIE **EVER.** XD No, seriously. And I'm glad you liked it! Hope you keep reading!  
YouCanCallMe MrsMalfoy: Personally, I'm in love with Thor. NOT the actor - the character. -3- Crossing my fingers that this oneshot won't go down in flames... ^.^;  
Kaoru97: White Chicks? :3 and thanks! Enjoy the story!  
Just-Me-and-My-Brain: Thanks! ^^ Glad you like this that much... And get ready for the next chapter... ;D *whisper whisper* inside info! Mwahaha!

**Alright, now on to the story! Thanks for all the reviews though, you guys totally blew my mind! :DDD**

* * *

Of Swimming and Seas

* * *

_"Hey, Kid!" Maka called, jogging up to the black and white haired meister in the hallway. He - and Liz and Patty - turned to greet her warmly._

_"Hi Maka!" Patty giggled._

_The scythe meister grinned at her then said breathlessly, for she had just run through half the school looking for them, "We're going to the beach. Wanna come?"  
_-Maka, Kid, Liz, and Patty, approximately two months after the Kishin battle-

* * *

"YES!" Liz cheered, tossing a sundress in the open suitcase on her bed. "We're going to the be-each!"

Patty danced around her, holding up a loose green top for her sister to see. "Hey sis, think this'll go good with my jean shorts?"

The elder Thompson grinned and snatched it, inspecting the spaghetti straps and the ruffled hem, letting out a small whistle. "Nice, Pat. You might have to let your big sis borrow it too." She winked, and Patty laughed.

Kid appeared and leaned against the doorframe. "Have fun."

Liz wheeled around, incredulous. "Have fun? Ohh, no, mister. You're comin' whether you like it or not."

Her meister flushed and shook his head vigorously. "Sorry, Liz, but I don't really like swimming-"

"Too bad, so sad!" Patty cackled, seizing his arm and dragging him to his room. "Let's pick out some trunks for ya."

"Really, I can't-" he protested weakly, but she was determined, rifling through his drawers and throwing a pair of black swim trunks with the typical skull insignia on the bed, then a white short sleeved t-shirt, a pair of black flip flops, a baseball cap, another pair of swim trunks, and finally as an afterthought a second t-shirt. Grinning widely, she then proceded to attack his pajama drawer, quickly finding black fleece shorts and a tanktop. "Now change!" she ordered with a scary maniacal glint in her eye. He meekly gathered up one of the swim shorts and the white t-shirt, escaping to the bathroom while she laughed evilly and packed the rest in a suitcase.

Liz and Patty waited out in the hallway, toting both their suitcases and Kid's. "Almost done?" the elder called impatiently.

"Yeah..." Kid's muffled, reluctant reply sounded. He opened the bathroom door and allowed himself to be tugged out the door by his gleeful partners. The sisters had called the limousine during their wait, and piled in quickly. "Swing by 2211 Coffins Parkway, please,***1***" the young reaper ordered the driver. They were going to pick up Maka, Soul, BlackStar, and Tsubaki there - the latter's apartment.

"I'm so excited!" Patty squealed as they drove. Liz' head bobbed up and down in agreement, while their disgruntled meister just mumbled something incomprehensible and settled for looking out the window glumly.

The minute the car pulled up and the driver opened the door, a streak of blue flew through and leaped at Kid, who with superhuman reflexes caught the offending foot and threw it aside. "Save it for outside, BlackStar," the shinigami muttered, bored.

BlackStar snorted and puffed out his chest. "The Almighty Me doesn't have time to show weaklings like you their place. I'll be WAY too busy doing more important things like riding the waves!"

"You do that," Kid muttered.

Maka got in the car much slower than the annoying assassin, smiling pleasantly at the group of three. "This is gonna be so fun, huh guys?" she asked excitedly. Kid grunted, but Patty giggled and babbled something about ice cream.

Tsubaki followed, with Soul bringing up the rear hauling four suitcases, which the driver took and placed in the back. The albino scythe slid onto the seat next to a certain gloomy reaper and complained, "Why did I have to do all the heavy lifting?" His meister shot him a look (the shut-up-or-I'll-chop-you look) and he gulped and looked away.

"Who's going swimming?" Tsubaki asked gently as they began the hour-long drive to the beach. The minute their tires left the edge of the dropoff at the end of the small road that led out of Death City, they settled immediately down on smooth pavement, about half an hour outside Wailea, Maui***2***.

Her meister leaned forward and yelled, "ME, OF COURSE! How about you, Soul? You've got to swim with the Super Awesome Godly BlackStar."

Soul shrugged and said, "Sure. Whatever, dude."

"Hey, did you bring sunblock, Paleface?" the assassin taunted Kid, then leaned back and laughed uproariously at his own joke. Kid shot him a dirty look.**  
**

"I don't need it," he informed him icily. "My skin doesn't sunburn, or change at all in the sun."

"Oh." BlackStar frowned. "That's weird. A Star like me doesn't worry either! My Godly body tans!"

Liz rolled her eyes at the boys and whipped out her iPhone, calling a girls huddle in the back of the limo and showing them some fashion line. All four whispered and chattered happily, while in the front one egotistical meister was fiddling with the remote to the TV.

"It won't work," he whined.

Kid sighed and snatched it, deftly pressing three buttons without even looking. A 40" flatscreen folded down from the ceiling and three Wii remotes popped up, in plastic gun holsters. "Resident Evil!" Soul cheered, grabbing one. The other two followed suit.

"THE GODLY BLACKSTAR WILL BEAT YOU BOTH!" BlackStar practically screamed. The other two sighed at him in unison.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Twenty minutes later, BlackStar was slowly turning tomato red as he fell to the creepy Godzilla-like zombie creature yet _again_ while on his left Kid blasted it easily with but a few rounds, knocking its head off. Soul whooped as his character popped back up, and commenced trying to defeat a small horde of annoying black spiders. Without even looking at the screen - he was glancing back at Liz and asking her something - Kid fired another dozen shots, decimating the monsters completely. Both boys gaped at him.

With a shrug, his only comment was, "I've played this about fifty times."

They gave up on the video game and instead watched out the window eagerly as the beach drew closer. The driver pulled them into a small driveway and they piled out to gape at the small premium villa situated in a cove on its own private beach. Kid smirked as he passed them, rolling his black suitcase behind him. Liz and Patty followed, bouncing happily (they've gotten used to the five star treatment) while the others just stared, slack jawed.

"You comin' or what?" Patty yelled back. With a start, the quartet gathered themselves and entered, soliciting a few gasps from Maka and Tsubaki.

The inside was furnished with mostly white marble, gleaming brightly in the late morning sky. The entire front wall of the living room/open kitchen area was floor-to-ceiling glass, looking out on a patio with an infinity pool and a smaller hot tub. A small path led through the grass to the beach below. There were two sets of couches in the living room - one sunken in a circular shape, directly next to the other stone-patterend wall, and another L couch closer to the kitchen counter that looked out onto the ocean. Two hallways extended from there, one smaller and with three doors - one at the end, two on both sides - and another longer hallway with four doors.

"Pick a bedroom," Kid instructed vaguely, gesturing at the four-door hallway. He then rolled his suitcase down to the door at the end of the other hallway. Liz and Patty followed, giggling, each entering one of the two doors on the sides. Shrugging, the rest of the group raced down the other hallway and threw open the doors to their home-away-from-home for the next week.

"This is SO AWESOME!" Maka whooped, diving onto her bed and tossing her suitcase carelessly behind her. After a moment of just lying on her back and grinning blankly up at the perfect white ceiling, she jumped up and started unpacking books in a whirlwind - stack after stack after stack. Finally at the bottom was her handful of crumpled gym shorts, t-shirts, two swimsuits, a miniskirt or two, and her toiletries pack. Throwing that easily into the small bathroom attached to her room, she picked up two books (_Sherlock Holmes: The Hounds of the Baskervilles _and _A Tale Dark and Grimm_) and skipped out to the living room, doing a cartwheel onto the couch and curling up against a pillow. She sighed happily at the beautiful ocean view, completely unaware of the figure behind her hidden in the shadows as she opened _A Tale Dark and_ _Grimm_ and began to read.

The figure silently made his way until he was crouching right behind Maka's head, given she was in the sunken couch area, then said quietly, "That's a good book."

She screamed and leaped forward, aiming a kick at the person's face. He caught it calmly and frowned at her.

"Kid!" Maka gasped, retracting her foot. The shinigami chuckled at the expression on her face (pure terror).

"Maka, what happened?" Soul demanded, racing into the room with his blade out. He skidded to a halt, confused, and BlackStar and Tsubaki nearly slammed into him. In front of them, Maka was shaking with silent laughter, tears streaming down her face, and Kid was still struggling to hold his own sounds of mirth.

Patty appeared in the hallway, brandishing her sister in gun form. "All right, ya little motherf-" She screeched to a stop, then cackled when she realized what happened. Liz transformed and rolled her eyes.

_Maybe this wasn't such a good idea,_ Soul groaned inwardly.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

About three hours later, after some more settling in and touring of the rest of the mansion (a game room, two indoor shooting ranges, another shooting range in the massive backyard, a huge training gym, four extra bathrooms, and exactly eight rooms that were furnished with couches, TVs, Wii systems, you name it.

But now it was time for the beach.

"SWIMSUITS! SWIMSUITS!" Patty shrieked, racing through the house with a GIGANTIC floaty plastic blow-up giraffe on her back. Cackling (she does this a lot), she bowled over BlackStar, Soul, and Maka in one short row as she stumbled and tripped slowly to a standstill. She giggled at their dazed expressions. "You just got Patty-smashed! PREPARE TO MEET... THE MIGHTY GEOFFRY!" She shook the giraffe in their faces and growled.

"Patty, don't kill them until they've at least gotten in the ocean," Kid reprimanded absentmindedly from the doorway, glancing only briefly down at their guests, then turning back to tapping on the waterproof iPhone he held in his hand. Maka dusted herself off with a good-natured shove for the crazy blonde weapon, then peered over her host's shoulder. "Hey Kid, aren't you going to the beach with us?"

"Yeah, take your shirt off!" BlackStar added, completely innocently oblivious to the double meaning of his words.

Kid let out a small 'tch' and glared at the spiky-haired meister. "No."

Maka pouted and gave him her puppy dog eyes. "Aww, come on."

Hesitating, he stared at her expression reluctantly, "... No. I have my reasons. I'm not going swimming."

"Oh, yes you are!" Patty peeked over his other shoulder with a creepy wide smile that made Soul whimper. "Come on, Kiddo-kun. LET'S GOOO!" She encircled her arms around his neck, and fast as lightning pulled him away in a cloud of dust to the grassy field outside. The other three followed quickly, picking up Tsubaki and Liz (who were both hauling bags of beach gear) along with them.

On the beach, the blonde all but screamed in evil/happy triumph, and launched her meister five feet in a spray of sand. He sat up, spitting the irritating white granules out and looking absolutely livid. "Patty..."

"Oops!" she cackled, running away and shedding the baggy t-shirt she'd been wearing to reveal her bright sunflower-yellow bikini and diving into the water with a splash.

Liz appeared with the others in tow, and taking in the situation with an amused smirk, stripped off her sundress and following her sister in a sky-blue bikini. Both sisters laughed and paddled around each other, flinging handfuls of sea water at hyper speed. Tsubaki was already in her bikini and walked more slowly in, just dipping her toes in. After a moment she returned to their gear, setting up a huge umbrella and anchoring it as BlackStar and Soul raced each other out of their shirts and pushed and shoved as they sprinted into the waves. Finally the ponytail-toting weapon followed them tentatively, leaving just Kid and Maka.

The scythe meister narrowed her eyes at the boy beside her. "Please tell me you're not going to just sit here under an umbrella while _they_ have fun."

"Yup," he muttered, settling down crosslegged and tapping quickly away at his phone before fishing through a picnic basket with one hand.

"Ohh, no." The sandy blonde removed her hair ties in a flash, easily doing up a more practical ponytail, then tugged on the black-haired reaper's arm. "You're coming in the water. Do you want me to call Patty _and_ Liz in here? I'm sure they'd be happy to help..."

Kid paled, if that was possible, and looked at her pleadingly. "I just don't want to! Is that too much to ask?"

"Yes. _HEY PATTY! LIZ! I NEED HELP WITH YOUR MEISTER!"_

They came happily, dragging a spluttering Kid behind them as they splashed back into the ocean. Pretty soon, his shirt was soaked and he had no choice but to shed it, cheeks turning a light angry pink as he folded it and stuffed it in a bag. Both Thompsons winked suggestively at his bare chest and dived back in, leaving an embarrassed Maka to stare for a moment before turning away, red as a tomato. Soul grinned at her.***3***

"This is pointless," the shinigami growled, crossing his arms and just standing as the waves washed over his feet.

"But it's fun!" Patty squealed.

Maka waded over to him, grinning from ear to ear, completely soaked and holding something behind her back. "Join in, Kid!"

"Or what?" he snapped.

She giggled, then in a flash withdrew a plastic bucket from behind her back and emptied the contents - a load of seawater - over his head. Spluttering, the dripping Kid glared at her and this time (albeit more playfully) joined in, scooping up handfuls of water and tossing them superhumanly fast at his opponents. BlackStar yelled something about being Godly and belly-flopped on top of the stripey-haired meister.

After nearly half an hour of this, Patty splashed over to Kid and handed him a sand dollar, laughing something along the lines of "Present for Kiddo-kun!"

He smiled. "Wow Patty, it's very nic-" Breaking off, Kid's stare had fixated on a tiny chip in the bottom corner of the sand dollar.

"What's wrong?" Maka asked, a little concerned. The reaper didn't answer at first.

"It's..."

"Seriously Maka?" Soul groaned. His meister just looked puzzled.

"It's..."

"She totally forgot," BlackStar scoffed.

"It's..."

"Should we straitjacket him?" Patty cackled.

"So..."

"Oh joy," Liz muttered.

_**"ASYMMETRICAL!"**_

* * *

**XDDD YUSH. BEACHES.**

**Oh, I'm also considering changing my pen name... do you think I should? :3 And who wants to see an epic story cover for this with the amazing new invention on ffnet called IMAGE MANAGER?**

*1*: _I made this up. It's BlackStar's 'address.'_

*2*: _Yes, this place exists, no, the mansion does not. -3-_

*3*: _I don't know how many times I'll have to say this in coming stories, but... NONE OF THESE WILL BE KIDxMAKA. Not that I have anything against the pairing, I just don't like writing romance. :P_

**Prompts? Questions? R&R!**_  
_

**_~DeaththeKidKat~_  
**


	7. Don't Cry, My Child

**YAY! ^3^ I don't know why I'm happy, BUT I AM! Just go with it. -.-**

**So anyways. First of all, I guess I'm not being very clear - a fault on my part, apologies - on the whole 'suggestions?' thing I've started putting in my end A/N. It means I WANT SUGGESTIONS. -.o Got it? XD If you want a certain one-shot to be written (if you want a fluffy pairing chapter, I'm afraid I'm going to have to decline... :/ I just don't do romance. Kay~?), then review or PM me with your idea. :D  
**

**Also, what would you want to see as a story cover for this? Now that the new Image Manager thing is out, I'm definitely going to be using it... o_O**

shiskanae242: Thank you! Hope you keep reading!  
themaskedmeister13: Wow... ^.^; I'm flattered! *blush* I hope you continue reading the other one-shots as well...  
8fangirl8: Aww, I don't know. I keep staring at it with an eye twitch because it's fandom-specific and I've started writing for so many other things. Sigh. Don't worry, I definitely won't change it too much (I mean, I'll keep the 'Kat' part...) so it shouldn't be THAT hard to memorize... ^.^; and I have to say, Bruce is adorable, but I am THOR ALL THE WAY~ *squee* NOT because of his actor. His CHARACTER. -3-  
Cyanide 6: Yeah, well, I'll read it, I just won't write it. Whatever. And glad you like them! Kid is so huggle-able sometimes I want to break my screen and dive in... sigh. *pout* Here's more!  
Mina888: Oh, sorry I didn't really cover that! I don't know, that was kind of up to your imagination, although I suppose the way I pictured it is because he doesn't like to take his shirt off... XD poor innocent Kid.  
Riku Ashwood: Here, I PMed you with the name cuz IT'S A SECRET (le gasp) XD Glad you liked it, Image Manager is confusing I suppose but I'm pretty quick with complicated computer-thingymabobbers so I have it pretty much figured out. ^.^ What do you think should be on the cover?  
PooperScooper000: I don't know... XD I don't actually play Resident Evil, it was based off of whatever version my best friend dragged me into playing while I was over at her house. Thank you! (and I love your name lol)  
Vampireninja101: Glad to hear it helped you laugh! I know, I was a little depressed and stressed and FREAKING OUT over ensemble auditions (I didn't actually get in, T^T) so I just had to write some OCD stuffs to calm me down. Anything you'd actually want to see on the cover?  
Just-Me-and-My-Brain: See my PM. *winkwink nudgenudge*  
VilaDeath: Heyyy, old friend! Long time no see! XD "Must... fix... seashell..." btw, I finished the cover you wanted for Shattered: Mirrors... PM me!  
Annerizu-san: How so, eh?  
Kaoru97: Well, you save an image and then upload it... then when you edit your story upload the picture from your images queue to there. It's complicated... XP

**BLAH. I forgot what I was going to say -3- ... OH RIGHT! Some of you may have noticed that my pen name has changed. Sorry, but I was twitching every time I saw my old fandom-specific name, so I changed it to a more broad one... :3**

**AND DID YOU SEE THE NEW MANGA CHAPTER? KID AGREED TO WEAR AN ARMBAND! A SINGLE ARMBAND! HE'S GROWING UP, OVER THAT DAMN OCD! *huggles so tight he suffocates* cacklez...**

**Anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

Don't Cry, My Child

* * *

_"It's the only way to win! We're outnumbered!"_

_"No, Kid! If you do, then-"_

_"NO!"_

_THRUMMM._

_..._

"KID!"

* * *

"What the-"

"Isn't that Spartoi?"

"Hey, who is BlackStar carrying-"

"Oh no, it can't be!"

"What in the name of Lord Death happened?"

"Is he really-"

"It can't be true-"

"How?"

_"Why?"_

Maka ignored the voices of her friends, her classmates, and choked back a sob at the last one. Why indeed. Why? Because Kid was a stupid, stubborn, self-sacrificing bastard. And a damn good friend. Too good.

BlackStar practically snarled at the students crowding around the courtyard in front of the DWMA, making them instantly cringe and separate back until there was enough room for him to pass, Liz and Patty on either side. The sisters' faces were blank, and while tears passed silently down their cheeks, their eyes were vacant and faraway. Tsubaki was almost hysterical, Soul was biting his lip and drawing blood thanks to his shark teeth, and Maka was also sobbing, just quietly, with her head clutched in her hands.

However, the head of their little train had only let one tear - just one - escape, and his tanned face was set in stone. The God he'd been so eager to surpass lay dead in his arms, and not even by his hands. Of course he'd never wanted to actually kill Kid before, but still, it was enough to fill him with rage that could level a city block in an instant.

He dreaded that Lord Death's rage would level the entire city in less.

But the father deserved to know, so he continued his trek up the steps and through the halls, knowing and registering but not caring that more students (and teachers) had tagged along onto the end of their little train. Soon they reached the Death Room door.

"What- what now?" Maka hiccuped.

BlackStar didn't answer, just glanced at Liz and Patty. Robotically, the two wiped away their tears (this did nothing - they kept on coming) and pushed open the door. A tiny, chilly breeze twirled out to meet them, ruffling Kid's limp hair and making him look like he was smiling again.

_Ridiculous,_ the assassin reprimanded himself. _That's not going to happen. He's dead._

Slowly, the group poured into the guillotine hallway and advanced down the path. At the end, Spirit and Stein rushed up, jaws dropping in shock when they saw the limp and lifeless body in BlackStar's arms. Beyond them... Lord Death waited, facing his mirror (blank) and silent as the grave.

"Lord Death," Maka started with another hiccup and a broken voice. "We're so... we're so... sorry."

He turned, in the time that seemed to take an eon but in reality was but seconds. "... Who?"

"I'm sorry?" the scythe meister asked tremulously.

"Who?" The Reaper's tone was cold as ice. "Who has dared to take my son from me?"

BlackStar spoke up in a growl. "Renegade Kishin souls, aided by a witch. There were hundreds- no, thousands. Far too many for us to take on and we had no time to call for backup. So Kid... sacrificed himself instead with a move that obliterated both the Kishin eggs and all the energy in his soul. We were too exhausted to face the witch, so we came back here."

"Kill her."

There was no remorse, no expression in the words. Without him saying anything, shadow tendrils snaked up from the ground and lifted Kid out of the assassin's grip, carrying him slowly over to Lord Death, who gathered his only son in huge white hands.

"Kill her for what she has done. Stein, Spirit, everyone. Anyone who can fight, obliterate her. Show no mercy."

And then with a bang they were all thrown out of the Death Room. The door slammed shut, then disappeared completely, leaving a blank wall. Maka launched herself at the space, pounding against the plaster with broken sobs. Soul drew her away, still crying himself. "Let's go home, Maka." Slowly the pair walked away, while the rest of the students stared at each other with shocked looks. Whispers broke out, rumors flying already. BlackStar just gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes at Stein. The stitch-faced meister nodded sharply and moved throughout the crowd.

"Come on, you heard Lord Death! We're going to kill that witch and any and all accomplices. Bring back her soul at any cost."

Cheers rang out, as well over a third of the gathered group took their partners and followed. BlackStar didn't even have to glance at Tsubaki to know she would follow, and he ran along the hallways, reaching a balcony and jumping down to land right next to Stein as he led the charge out of the school. Tsubaki landed lightly beside him, and they kept an even pace with their teacher. "How are we going to get there?"

Stein grimaced. "That's arranged easily."

As if on cue, helicopters flew overhead, summoned by a quick call from Spirit. Sid waved from inside the cockpit of one. Students cheered and began scaling the ropes easily - the DWMA was not a place for weaklings. BlackStar climbed one himself, crouching by the door of one and glaring out at the scenery of the desert with cold eyes. Tsubaki placed a hand on his shoulder and they sat in silence, tuning out the excited, nervous, and angry chatter around them.

"We can do it, BlackStar," she whispered. "Kid deserves it."

"Damn right he does," he snarled back. "But he certainly didn't deserve to die."

She sighed. "He was saving us. He knew what he was doing."

Her meister didn't reply.

* * *

Many hours later, they assembled back at school, beaten and weary but triumphant. In Stein's hands were cupped the soul of the witch. He and Spirit gathered before a mirror, Soul and Maka back at their side, and tried calling Lord Death. Nothing appeared in the mirror, until a large white hand snaked out, snatched the soul, and returned with a small ripple. They tried calling again and again, talking to nothing, never getting any answers.

Lord Death had effectively cut himself off from everyone.

* * *

"Oh, my son," Lord Death whispered to Kid. "I'm so sorry. I was never a good enough father... you didn't have to die for the humans."

_"No, chichiue,"_ Kid's ghostly soul replied mournfully. He wavered in the dim light of the Grim World. _"They were worth it. Is not every human soul of equal value to ours, if not in power in spirit? I did my duty as a Reaper. There was never any doubt in my heart."_

His father hung his head. Mask and cloak removed, he and his son were equals. In the Grim World, Order ruled. "I'm sorry for not having been there more often. You grew up alone until you met Liz and Patty. I am truly sorry. Your childhood was not a very happy one."

_"But still, I found friendship, I found happiness," _Kid replied with a small smile. _"I never blamed you. I knew your job was much more important. True, sometimes I wished for a father, but then I remembered how good and kind you were to all, the best Grim Reaper that ever lived, and I was comforted. You've had children before, and you will again. I was an anomaly anyways."_

"No, you were my favorite son," Lord Death corrected harshly. "Never think of yourself as an 'anomaly.' You were a little... obsessive, but by far you seemed to be the one most likely to assume my position. You'd connected a Sanzu line already! None of my other children have achieved that more than once without dying, and you did so several times***1***!"

Kid laughed, and it echoed in their dark grim space. The Grim World was empty save for them, in this corner that Lord Death had easily cordoned off. _"Chichiue, that was an easy feat compared to what I've heard some of your other children attempted. I was truly glad for my time among Earth. Now let me go, so I can be in peace. You must restore Order and find another Reaper child to train. I'm sure they will make you proud." _With that, he dissolved into a small shower of golden dust that gathered itself in Lord Death's hands. He nearly cried when he realized it's color.

_Gold. The purest color of love and bravery._

So he returned to the Death Room, and from his mirror drew a wooden chest, clasping the golden dust tightly in the other hand, his cloak and mask returned. Opening the chest, a single black tear fell as he glanced over the seven glass jars of different colors of dust - blue, black, red, green, that laughing cyan one of the girl he'd cherished once, and created in his other palm a new glass jar. Carefully pouring every speck of golden essence in, he sealed it tight and placed it in the middle.

Eight jars. Eight children.

And still, only one was gold.

Kid... oh, Kid. His beloved son.

_I'm so sorry._

He left the chest open, caressing the tops of the jars, knowing it had been eight days since the Death Room had vanished. Slowly he allowed the door to reappear, hearing the excited shouts as the humans realized he'd returned and rushed in, BlackStar and Maka at their head.

Instead of finding a broken Lord Death, they found a happy one laughing quietly to himself as he gazed into a wooden chest filled with strange glass jars of all colors. Eight jars.

And the one in the middle was gold.

* * *

Lord Death waited eight years, exactly eight years, before splitting a piece of his soul off and creating another essence. A tiny baby squirmed in his large white hands, giggling and sucking on a huge white finger, gumming it with a toothless mouth. A girl.

He could see, deep within her, there was a glimmer of gold, shining brightly in her eyes. He'd only ever seen such bright golden eyes in Kid- well, the Kid before this one. He knew he would love her immediately. He knew he'd be a better father than he'd ever been for any of his children.

He owed it to the last Kid.

So over the years, as she grew, he did something he'd never done before. On her birthday (the former Kid's death date), he'd draw out the chest of jars, and show her each one, telling her stories about her siblings. Every time she'd point at the gold one, giggle, and ask "Chichiue, what about that one?" And every time he'd shake his head with an amused air and promise her "You will see, one day."

And that day, almost fifteen years after she came into his life, she succeeded in being the youngest Reaper by far to ever have connected all of her lines.

As Lord Death fades away, he wipes away her tears and slowly whispers everything about the Kid that came before her. His bravery, OCD, all the funny moments, angry ones, how he sacrificed everything for what he loved. Then he gives her the wooden chest and says, right before he fades away completely,

_"Don't cry, my child... for your heart is as pure as gold."_

* * *

*1*I don't know, this is kind of manga verse and kind of anime verse... just go with it XD

**GAH all these depressing fics are getting to me... XD well, hope you enjoyed. ^.^**

**-Kat-  
**

**(Thanks to Just-Me-and-My-Brain for the prompt! Remember to PM/review with any suggestions and/or requests/prompts!)  
**


	8. Forget and Forgive

**Well, sorry, but I was hit with an inspiration the size of a brick, so I promptly opened up Doc Manager and began to type this. I- ... I'm not entirely sure where this came from, but I decided that instead of the birthday fic I had planned for this chapter (which has now been postponed to the next chapter) I would post this instead. I really like it, and I hope you ungrateful lot do too... XD**

**I will answer reviews for both last chapter and this chapter in the next chapter.**

**Possible summary for this:**

**Forget and Forgive  
**

**'Or, the four times Lord Death hugged Kid, and the one time that Kid let go of his polite appearance and returned the favor without hesitation.' Father-Son fluff.**

* * *

Forget and Forgive

* * *

**1 ;; **_Age 4_

"Hey, you listening?"

A muffled voice broke into Death the Kid's preoccupied thoughts, and he looked up with a bored expression. Before him kneeled a small girl, sandy hair done up in two pigtails. Of course, his first impression was _The right one is a little higher than the left._ Pushing this thought to the back of his mind, he muttered,

"Do you need something?"

She pursed her lips in a smile. "I just thought you looked lonely."

Kid stifled a sigh. Why had his father enrolled him into preschool? He was already at the educational level of a sophomore in high school, so this was completely pointless. His first day, and so far all he'd done was sit, ensconsed in a dark corner between two bookshelves. Just barely refraining from rolling his eyes, the young Death God replied,

"Thank you for the thought, but I do not require any company."

The girl just giggled and tugged on his arm. "'Course you do! Here, you can play with blocks or something. Want me t' call BlackStar over here?"

"No, thank you-" he started to answer, but she had already turned and hollered the name. 'BlackStar,' huh? Must be that Star Clan kid that Father spent all that time deciding about.

A stocky young boy with outrageous spiky blue hair came trotting over, a sour look on his face. "Yeah? Whaddaya want, Maka?"

Maka. So that was her name.

"Well, I thought he looked lonely, so I offered to play with him," Maka explained primly. "Would ya wanna join us?"

Kid opened his mouth to retort, but BlackStar cut him off with an abrupt, "Well, we gotta know his name."

This time Kid did sigh, and resigned himself to the fact that this was the only way to get a word in edgewise. "My name is Death the Kid," he responded neatly. Easy and perfect, just the way he liked it.

BlackStar snorted. "What kinda a name is that? What're we s'posed to call ya, _Teeny Death?_"

"Are you insulting me?" Kid growled, standing up.

"Maybe," the insolent little brat shot back. "Or your parents. Who names their kid Death? I know it's s'posed to be Death City and all, but that's takin' it too fa-"

Vision going red, Kid leaped forward and slammed BlackStar to the ground, bringing a small fist squarely across his face. "Do. Not. Insult. My. Father," he hissed, each word accompanied by a punch. BlackStar twisted and dislodged him, then flew forward and tried to tackle the young shinigami. With superhuman speed, Kid ducked his blow and attacked from behind, fists flying in blind rage. They continued to fight, until the furious teacher pulled them apart and seperated them.

Later, in her office, she told Lord Death sternly about the entire fight, shooting frowns at the small stripey-haired kid that was sitting in his chair, feet dangling a good foot above the ground, his cheek bruised and a scrape on his elbow. Lord Death acknowledged all of this calmly, and when she left he turned his mask to face his son.

"I expected better from you, Kid."

His son's face crumpled, but he kept his composure. Inside, all he felt was crushing disappointment._ Honorable Father must hate me. Hideous, asymmetrical garbage that I am. I have dishonored his name, even though that Star Clan brat started it._

"However, I do think that you landed those punches very nicely."

Kid's head snapped up in shock. The elder shinigami was giving him a _thumbs up. _What on Earth was he doing? He'd screwed up. He was a disappointment. Why was his father PRAISING him?

"I-" He faltered. "I- I thought I was garbage, a huge asymmetrical failure."

Shinigami shook his head in dispair. "Of course not! I am a little disappointed, but you acted by your true beliefs and only to defend- me, that is. That is a good quality in a Death God."

Then he wrapped his son in a hug, and all was right with the world.

* * *

**2 ;; **_Age 8_

"Now, move your right foot forward a bit," Lord Death instructed, poking Kid's foot a little. Nodding stiffly, the eight-year-old Death God complied, molding his arms into the carefully practiced shape of the Stance of Sin. He'd been learning it for years, of course, but now they were on the final- most complicated- stages.

Leaning forward on the ball of his foot the tiniest bit, Kid took only a brief moment to take a breath and steady himself, then flew forward and began the complicated series of punches and kicks, interspersed with flips and other acrobatic maneuvers. All timed perfectly, all carefully and symmetrically planned. Kid never missed a beat. They continued with this particular routine for a little while, then Lord Death called a break. Sitting down on the edge of the platform, Kid gazed up at his father in confusion.

"Chichiue, why are we resting? I still have forty-nine hours and twelve minutes until my strength begins to wane."

"Precise as always, Kiddo," Lord Death chuckled, ruffling his son's hair. "I just wanted to ask you how you feel about this series of moves."

Kid blinked. "It is an essential part of the Death Martial Arts, and is an important routine to learn."

"But why?" Shinigami pressed.

"Without Order, the world falls to chaos. It is the job of the Death Gods to protect Order, and fight chaos and Madness," Kid recited easily. "We preserve peace, but to do so we must have the ability to fight for our ideals. Death Martial Arts is simply one tool for us to use in this process, but is a big part of our battle style, and so must be performed perfectly each and every time."

Silence. Then, with a long sigh, Lord Death conceded, "Correct."

Kid grasped his hair, wanting to tear it out. "I said something wrong, didn't I? I'm horrible, asymmetrical garbage and I don't deserve to exis-"

"Don't EVER say that!" his father interrupted sharply. Kid stopped immediately, looking up in surprise. "Don't ever say you don't deserve to exist," he continued, more softly.

The young shinigami looked down in shame. "I'm sorry, chichiue," he whispered.

Lord Death just gathered his son into his arms and hugged him tight.

* * *

**3 ;;** _Age 10_

Kid sighed and rested his chin on his hands, watching dully from his high-backed golden chair as Lord Death and Spirit bantered good-naturedly back and forth. His father had called him here because he'd said he had important business they needed to discuss, but somehow it had turned into an argument over the cuteness of ponytails versus pigtails. Spirit, naturally, had called his 'darling Maka' into the debate, the girl in question being currently with her mother. Kid vaguely remembered Maka. Preschool, was it? Ah, yes. His brawl with BlackStar.

He had half a mind to stand up and yell at the two, tell them to stop arguing childishly and act their age (when Kid seemed the only one in the room that could. Act like an adult, that is). But, being the incessantly polite and proper child that he was, Kid kept his mouth shut and just watched as the ship sank deeper and deeper into boring, dull waters. The argument WAS getting a little out of hand, though. Five Reaper chops had already been dealt, and Spirit's blue eyes were unfocused and his voice a little slurred as he mentioned for the _sixty-fourth_ time how cute his daughter was in pigtails.

Yes, perhaps he should stop it.

Just as his hands dropped, his mouth opened, and his legs tensed in preparation to stand up, Kid was cut off by Lord Death winking at Spirit and pushing him through the mirror. Kid froze, a little surprised.

"What-" he started to say, but Lord Death knocked his huge white hands together and created a puff of confetti, unearthing from the folds of his cloak a pristine black-frosted chocolate cake, with white bordering, three white stripes across the whole caketop, and the words **_'Happy Birthday_ _Kid'_** written in pure gold letters. Kid's mouth dropped.

"Happy birthday!" Shinigami cheered.

"H-how- wha- why- whaaaa...?" Kid stuttered.

In answer, Lord Death set down the cake and hugged him.

* * *

**4 ;;**_ Age 14_

"Come on, that's not necessary. Do you really have to go?"

"I've been cooped up here for an unbearable amount of time, Spirit. I believe I have earned a breath of fresh air."

"But this is absolutely... we could send anybody, why do you have to go?"

"Are you suggesting I cannot take care of myself?" Kid leveled a piercing golden glare at the Death Scythe before him.

"No, but the 'Devils of Brooklyn'? They're just some rogue weapons. We might as well send BlackStar to restrain them."

"No way. That blundering idiot would only make things worse. I can and will handle this on my own."

"B-But-" Spirit spluttered for a moment, then turned to Lord Death. "Sir!"

Sighing, Lord Death turned and hugged his son. "If you believe that you can handle this, then go. Come home soon."

Kid blinked in surprise, but nodded stiffly and was off faster than they could blink.

* * *

**5 ;; **_Age 15_

Panting with pain and exhaustion, the group of battered, bloody students stumbled into the Death Room and assembled before Lord Death. Soul was supporting Maka, but only a little. BlackStar was standing on his own, albeit a little wobbly, with a frantic and worrying Tsubaki an inch away. Liz and Patty had their arms under Kid's shoulders, keeping him upright as the Death God trembled and winced under the pressure of lots of torn up Arachnophobia's soldier's uniforms wrapped tightly around the gaping hole in his abdomen. Dull, pain-filled golden eyes looked up slowly. There was his father, full of holes and covered in dirt. Horribly asymmetrical. But all the young shinigami could think was _I almost lost him._

Everything around him seemed to slow down.

Spirit racing forward, hugging both Soul and Maka - and for once the blonde meister didn't protest, just slumped against her father in exhaustion.

BlackStar managed to stumble forward towards Sid, who embraced the blue-haired assassin briefly, then ruffled his spiky hair.

Marie, left with Tsubaki, wrapped her arms tight around the black-haired girl and started sobbing in joy.

All of this passed in a blur, and yet took forever, in Kid's eyes.

A few tears welled up in his gaze of pure gold, and without a moment's hesitation, he flung himself into his father's arms and hugged him tight, tears streaming down his cheeks.

For a moment, he felt like he was three, and his father was comforting him after a nightmare.

He felt the Death God's large hands tighten around his back, and, ignoring the pain, Kid screwed his eyes shut and held on for all he was worth.

* * *

_Even though the memories we will forget  
A lesson we have learned  
And through our hardships and our happiness  
Hug us once we have returned..._

* * *

**_Kat_**


	9. How To Ruin A Deathday Party

**XD Alright, I guess you liked the last chapter! c; Here are the reviews for chapter seven...**

Mina888: Your request shall be honored! Right now, actually...  
Riku Ashwood: O_o; Um... thank you...? XD  
VilaDeath: Yay! I mean, aww... lol  
Cyanide 6: Well, thank you! If you cried, that means it's good. ;)  
themaskedmeister13: Not exactly, the Kid we all know and love was the eighth in a line of Death the Kids. They're all named the same, just they look different... and the girl mentioned at the end was Lord Death's ninth child. Her name is also Death the Kid, but she obviously isn't the Kid from the anime/manga Soul Eater... it's my weird play on how Kid was born. -3-;  
Annerizu-san: Aww, just work at it! I used to suck too, then I started watching anime... XD funny how that works.  
Vampireninja101: So glad you liked it that much! I was kind of aiming for tears... I almost cried myself writing it... ;_;  
Kara Black: That's... actually... a really good idea! And you are one of two people who suggested it! XD never fear, you shall see some bromance in the next chapter.  
Kaoru97: See? One of two people. XD Glad you liked it!  
8fangirl8: Thank you! And I am =3=  
unicornz4eva: I did not know that... O_o jk I kind of did. Or assumed it. But because I enjoy killing off Kid (and sometimes Lord Death) they shall die. :P Kid is always sullen... well, kinda~ and he doesn't go OCD very often because I don't like his OCD. Sorry.  
Just-Me-and-My-Brain: Yay! :D Glad you like it. Um... hurmdehurm... food~ SHAWARMA!  
YouCanCallMe MrsMalfoy: That's a great idea, thanks! I kind of steered clear of that specific area so far because it's been done so many times, I was a little afraid people were getting tired of it... but if you want me to put a special twist on it, I'd be happy to try. ^.^

**And here are the reviews for chapter eight...**

Riku Ashwood: Thank chu! ^^  
Ravenclaw Alchemist: Aww, thanks! And nice screen name, by the way... c;  
Annerizu-san: IT IS, ISN'T IT? Fear not, you shall be seeing _much_ more of it... :D  
Kaoru97: Hehe... :P Well, glad you liked!

8fangirl8: Kid really needs a hug almost half of his life. ^^ Thanks!

Vampireninja101: Yay, thank you!

SkylarkOfTheMoon: D'aww, thanks! ^^ I love them so much.

luvthesea17: I'm afraid there will be MANY more chapters with Kid dying. /: I love the tragic deaths of my favorite characters, sorry!

**Thank you to luvthesea17, Ichiruki8, Starcatrose, Ferbguy101, Just-Me-and-My-Brain, unicornz4eva, and Riku Ashwood for favoriting/following.**

**So... how about a birthday party? Sorry for any OOC-ness on Kid's part, he's a little stressed. *pats head***

* * *

How to Ruin a Deathday Party

* * *

**Prompt: **_'Kid meets his mother. Not some freaky mother or a witch. A normal HUMAN mother with another family. Liz and Patty can go too.' -Mina888  
_

**Timeline:** A while after the Salvage arc in the manga.

**Characters:** Death the Kid, Lord Death, Liz and Patty Thompson, Maka Albarn, Soul Eater Evans, BlackStar, Tsubaki Nataksukasa, René Ingol, James Ingol, Anna Ingol, Angel, Devil, Greed, Gluttony, Sloth, Pride, Wrath, Envy, Lust

* * *

_"Hey, Kiddo!" Lord Death appeared in Kid's living room mirror. "Whaddaya say we invite the family for your birthday party?"_

_Kid did a perfect spit-take, showering Patty with OJ. "What?"  
_

_"You know, your birthday party!"  
_

_His son blanched. "Oh crap."  
_

_Patty giggled as she licked the OJ off of her arms, while Liz just blinked and said, "You have a birthday?"  
_

_"Yes. Is that so weird?"  
_

_"No... I just thought it'd be called, I dunno, a deathday."  
_

_"Elizabeth, really? I'm not dead."  
_-Kid, Liz, Patty, and Lord Death-

* * *

"You have a birthday?" Maka asked, shocked.

At the same time, BlackStar spluttered, "You have a family?"

Kid sighed and rolled his eyes at both of them. "Yes and yes. How many times must I say it? Besides, how do you think I was born?"

BlackStar and Soul sniggered. Maka narrowed her eyes. "You don't want to know their theories."

"Okay..." the reaper muttered. "I am thoroughly creeped out."

"So how _were_ you born then?" Liz questioned, applying a new coat of nail polish to her nails.

Another sigh. "Well... it's a rather long story. My father is technically one of three parents. I have a human father, and a human mother. They created... ahem, _me,_ of a sort. My body was stillborn." A few splutters and spit-takes were shared amongst the group (they were at Kid's house having a sort of brunch. No, brunches are not for old people.), but their host continued nonchalantly. "My mother is actually a close friend of Father's- she's also still alive. My body was born only fifteen years ago, but my soul - well, more on that later. Anyways, my body was stillborn, but my father saw fit that it was due time for an heir, so he consulted his associates in the Grim World and was granted permission to take a fragment of Shinigami essence from the strange corner in the Grim World we inhabit when not in Earthly form. I was simply one of many, chosen at random and implanted in a human body. I technically brought myself back to life - or, I brought my stillborn body back to life. From then on I was raised by Father."

All was silent. Jaws hung. Kid leaned back, sipping more OJ, and just eyed them quizzically. "What?"

* * *

"So, let me get this straight. Your party is in two days. And we have that much time to _completely redecorate Gallows Manor?"_ Liz spluttered, eyeing the bags and bags of party decorations.

"I'll try and lend a hand, but I might be too busy with other preparations," Kid informed her helpfully.

BlackStar snorted. "Good luck, Liz."

"We're helping too!" Tsubaki commented. Her meister whirled on her, spluttering. She glared him down. "Come on, BlackStar. Maka and I agreed that the four of us would help Liz and Patty while Kid was busy with other things."

Soul coughed, choking on his lemonade. "What?"

Maka narrowed her eyes and elbowed him _hard_. "Yes, _we are,_ Soul Eater. Now get your ass moving."

Grumbling and eyeing his meister warily, the albino scythe shuffled over to the mountain of plastic and heaved up a couple of bags, peering inside. "Hey, BlackStar! Look, they've got streamers. Black and white and... gray? Seriously? Oh well."

Kid smiled at them all. "Well, have fun. I have to go invite..." he shuddered, "eh, the rest... of my family. Both human and Shinigami... crap. This is gonna be hell." He moaned something in a language nobody there knew and passed a hand over a mirror, making it ripple. Without further ado he just stepped through the glass and disappeared. BlackStar stuck his tongue out at the retreating reapers' back.

"Let's get started!" Tsubaki suggested, helping Maka arrange a small tower of streamer rolls. The pigtailed blonde smiled, then grinned evilly at her own weapon.

"Soul, you and I are going to be hanging the streamers. _Got it?"_

He gulped and complied.

* * *

Kid shivered as he emerged in the sitting room of the plain house, furnished with small bright pieces of furniture and whatnot. It was horribly arranged, however, and he had to fight the urge to rearrange everything in the room. James would kill him.

At that moment, a cute six-year old blonde came tumbling into the room. Blinking with huge emerald eyes up at the reaper, she grinned and snatched onto his pant leg, giggling, then called, "Mommy! Kid-kun is here!"

"Hey, Anna," he chuckled, hoisting her up in a more symmetrical fashion. "Where's René and James?"

She thought a moment. "Well, Mommy's out in the garden... and Dad's at the store."

"And Tykka?" he questioned. "Is she over today?"

"She'll be here tomorrow!" Anna giggled again.

After a moment of trying to hang onto the wriggling blonde, another person entered the room. She was tall and slim, with warm amber eyes and wavy black hair that hung down past her ribcage. At the moment it was tied back in a messy ponytail. Blinking at the boy standing in her living room, her face broke into a warm smile and she rushed forward to hug Kid tightly. "Oh, Kid! It's been almost six months!" Pulling back, she scolded, "Why didn't you visit sooner?"

Kid shrugged. "Sorry, René. I had a bunch of missions taking up my time. Then I was... eh, occupied for about a month with a rather nasty man called Noah. It's cleared up now." He smiled. "Chichiue sent me to invite you to my birthday party."

René tutted. "Enough of this 'René' business. Take after Anna a bit, would you? And that sounds wonderful! I can't believe it's that time of year again."

"Fine... Mother," he relented. "It's day after tomorrow, at Gallows Mansion. I'll come get you and set up a mirror path."

Anna pouted. "Can me and Tykka come?"

Kid crouched down and ruffled her hair. "It's 'Tykka and I,' Anna-chan. And of course you can. We'll have lots of cake."

Squealing in delight, the girl flew forward and enveloped her brother in a strangling embrace. "Kay~! Hurry back, Kid-kun!"

"I'll do my best." Carefully removing her arms from around his neck, Kid started to stand up when the sound of the front door opening distracted him.

_Memories of being chained up, beaten, the door opening as Gopher came in with some new blade..._

Instinctively, Kid lowered himself into a defensive stance and his golden eyes narrowed in a catlike way, until he saw it was James coming through the door and relaxed. James Ingol was a broad-shouldered brunette with ragged hair and a habit of wearing his favorite gray headband to keep his bangs held back. René greeted her husband and shot a worried look at Kid.

He grinned apologetically. "Sorry. Last mission was a bit... hair-raising. I'm fine. Hello, Father."

"Hey, Kid," James laughed. "Been a while! You've gotta stop calling me 'Father.' It makes me sound so old." He winked. "Dad'll do."

"All right... Dad," Kid sighed. "My birthday party's day after tomorrow. Chichiue sent me to deliver the message. I guess Anna's bringing Tykka, I also have to head on up," he gestured vaguely at the ceiling, "and drag Angel and Devil into it as well."

"Good luck with that, Kiddo," James joked, patting his son's hair. "Bring us a souvenir, eh?"

Kid quickly smoothed down his black and white locks. "You know I can't do that," he grumbled. "I'll be back day after tomorrow." Stepping back through the mirror, he focused on his next destination as their calls of farewell echoed behind him. _Visiting them is always weird._ Almost falling out of the mirror, he stumbled and recovered, blinking at the bright light of the Between World. _Visiting these two will be even worse..._

Sighing, he stuffed his hands in his pockets as he walked through the cloudy, misty strange world of the Between. "Damn. I hope they haven't moved or anything. Nah, they're too lazy..."

Finally finding what he was searching for - a strange house, split color-and-design-wise straight down the middle. The right was black and red, with small puffs of smoke circling around it, as well as rather scary decor, while the left was pure white and gold, puffy white clouds lazily transcribing circles over the chimney. "Angel and Devil," Kid said to himself. "Might as well get it over with." He knocked on the double doors and waited. Soon enough they were both thrown open.

"Welcome to Hell!"

"Welcome to Heaven!"

Both twins said it in unison, then glared at each other.

"Pssh. We all know Hell is more fun."

"Don't be ridiculous. Everyone wants to go to Heaven."

"Excuse me!" Kid interrupted loudly. "It's _me,_ you nitwits."

They looked up in surprise, then said again in unison, "Oh, hey Kid!"

On the right was Devil, a raven-haired red-skinned boy with black jeans, scruffy black tennis shoes, and a plain black tee. He had two small black horns poking out of his dark locks, and a pair of semi-folded bat wings. Typical stereotype 'devil.' On the left was Angel, a pretty, blonde, white-clad (a skirt, snowboots, and ruffled tee) with fluffy white wings and the stereotypical golden halo. They were, believe it or not, twins. Obviously not identical.

Kid sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "My birthday party's day after tomorrow. There's cake. You coming?"

"Oh yes!" both cheered, then slammed the door.

Rolling his eyes, the reaper continued on his way. They were his Shinigami siblings - as in, Anna was his physical mortal body's biological sister, while Angel and Devil were related by soul and title. Even Kid himself found it confusing. (He also had seven brothers- Gluttony, Lust, Sloth, Pride, Greed, Wrath, and Envy; and five sisters- Truth, Compassion, Contentment, Humility, and Love. In other words, the Seven Sins and the Five Virtues. But they were scattered and only came together for the 'family reunion' that happened once every decade. Speaking of which, wasn't that next year?***1***)

Strolling back through the Between, he narrowed his eyes at the annoying silver mist.

"Kid!" a voice cheered.

The boy in question almost groaned and ran away. _Not them, not now, oh please..._

With seven small thuds, Gluttony, Lust, Sloth, Pride, Greed, Wrath, and Envy landed in front of him. "Hey guys," Kid greeted tiredly.

Pride grinned and saluted. "We hear you've got a b-day smash goin' on! Can we come?"

"Is there cake?" Gluttony asked excitedly. He rubbed his stomach, which was still as flat as ever. No matter how much the guy ate he never gained any pounds, whatsoever. Then again Kid was the same way. Only he didn't eat forty triple-layered cakes in a row.

"Yes, there's cake," he sighed.

"Ladies?" Lust asked with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

Kid rolled his eyes. "None that wouldn't be able to pound you into the ground without a second thought."

"Pssh. Show-offs, probably," Envy muttered.

"They're actually not," Kid mused. "It kind of _saves their skins in battle._"

"Boring!" Greed complained. "Money?"

"Seriously?" the reaper grated. "It's _my_ birthday, which means you give _me_ gifts. No money."

Greed stuck his tongue out. Sloth yawned. Wrath twitched and balled a hand into fists. "Can I fight 'em then?"

"No, Wrath," Kid deadpanned. "It's day after tomorrow. If you destroy Death City again Father and I will kill _all_ of you."

The seven brothers crossed their arms and stuck their tongues out in perfect unison, then the mist billowed around them and they were gone. Kid grumbled under his breath and opened a white portal in front of him, stepping through with his hands in his pockets. "Stupid Sins... always so pesky..." He didn't quite register that he'd just walked out of a mirror that Soul and BlackStar had been in the middle of hanging... and he was floating again. Both boys stared at him, jaws agape. Kid cursed and facepalmed. "Damn it all, I blame them. Stupid Sins always distracting me." Still complaining, he drifted down to the ground and continued walking through the front hall and into the living room as if nothing had happened. Soul and BlackStar kept staring incredulously.

"Hello, girls," Kid muttered distractedly, entering the kitchen and opening the door. Maka and Liz, who were in the middle of hanging streamers all over the living room, waved.

"How did the inviting go?" Maka called.

Kid just glared at her and downed a Dr. Pepper in a few gulps. "Ran into my brothers. Annoying little f-"

"You have brothers?" Liz interrupted.

Her meister rolled his eyes. "Yes. The seven in question are quite annoying. I swear, I'm going to behead-"

"Seven brothers?" Maka asked, a little awed.

"Yes, seven brothers," he confirmed irritably. "Well, no. Technically I have closer to forty-two brothers. But the seven in question are coming day after tomorrow, and-"

"Do you have any sisters?" Liz questioned, tossing another roll of black streamer paper to Maka.

Kid grit his teeth. "Yes. Now shut up. I wanted to warn you to stay out of their way, the seven-"

"How many sisters?"

"STOP. INTERRUPTING!" he practically bellowed. "I have the same number of sisters as brothers. As I was saying, the seven-"

"Lord Death has eighty-four kids?" Liz laughed.

Kid threw his hands up in defeat. "I give up. Yes and no. We don't really have parents, but we're considered a family because we're all... deities, I suppose you could call it. NOW WILL YOU LET ME FINISH?"

"Fine, fine," both girls conceded.

"Stay out of the Sins' way. They'll either try to seduce you, fight you, eat you, insult you, stalk you, or kill you. Well, they'll try."

Liz and Maka eyed him weirdly. "Eat us?" Liz snorted.

"Wait... Sins?" Maka asked excitedly. "You mean the Seven Deadly Sins? They've got physical form? Ooh, I need to take notes-"

"Hold it, bookworm!" BlackStar said as he and Soul sauntered back into the room. "Cool it. Sheesh, you're gonna grow mushro-"

"Maka CHOP!"

_Smash._

"Ow ow ow ow ow ow..."

Kid practically snarled and stalked out. He was under way too much stress, he knew it, but still. They may be good friends and elite team-mates but SERIOUSLY. The lot of them were _infuriating._ Then again, the Sins, Virtues, rest of the family, as well as Angel and Devil were pure hell. And he'd survived that. _Only once,_ he reminded himself. _At least in this reincarnation. We all look different, I suppose, but they're all the same... decade after decade._

"Hey, Kid, wait up!" Soul called, jogging after him. "Here's the order form for the cake. How many do ya wan- woah." Kid had whipped around, black energy crackling around him, giving the scythe the Death Stare. (Well, not the real Death Stare. That would kill him.)

"Order fifty," the reaper replied, tone controlled and dangerous. "I don't care, and I have the money. Now if you'll excuse me, being around my siblings - and imagining being in ALL of their company at the same time - tends to piss me off. Please take care not to get in my way or I may kill you. Thank you, goodbye." With that he left the quivering scythe in the foyer and stalked out the door, slamming it behind him. On the lawn, he took a deep breath of fresh air and summoned Beelzebub. Being the beginning of January, a thin, neat layer of snow lay over everything. Kid admired the flawless white powder as he soared high into the sky, circling around Death City.

It was normally a desert out here, but Death City was a special place in the High Realm that his father governed, so at the moment it was an arctic-like wasteland. Temperatures were slightly warmer inside the the city walls, accounting for the light snow.

Soaring high above it all, Kid breathed in the thin air - the small amount of oxygen was no problem, he had no need for breathing the stuff anyway. In Death City he had to breathe to keep up appearances, but when it came down to it, it really was such a pointless endeavor. He didn't need to, and that was that. (Come to think of it, none of his siblings had to either. Maybe they could have a sort of flash mob and all stop breathing, then see how long it takes the meisters like Maka, who have soul perception and are finely attuned to their surroundings, or people like BlackStar and Tsubaki, who listen to everything anyways...)

Then again, freaking out everyone at his party, including his human mother (he did NOT want her to start fussing), was just going to end up being more trouble than it was worth. Brooding over other way he could maybe rally his siblings together and make them not as much of a pain, Kid almost didn't notice the fact he wasn't alone in the air. He'd been gone for almost two hours, and it seemed that another meister-weapon pair had taken advantage of his absence and finished up decorating, taking to the sky instead.

Ahead soared Maka, riding on Soul's handle***2*** and apparently yelling at the scythe as well. _Seems their resonance is not quite perfect yet,_ the reaper thought amusedly. Deciding to scare them a little, he soared into the inside of a cloud and settled back against it. Being a reaper, touching thin material like clouds was a conscious decision - if he wanted to walk on clouds, he could. Hiding the purple glow of Beelzebub disappearing back into his hand, Kid stayed perfectly still and allowed his superhuman hearing to take over.

"Soul! I told you, if you stop concentrating we drop like that. Are you _trying_ to kill me?"

"Maybe you are! Sheesh, why are we up this high anyways?"

"We're practicing so we can get _better."_

"What if you drop and I can't catch you in time?"

Smirking, Kid called, "I'll volunteer for that."

The rustling and arguing fell silent. "Is that... you, Kid?" Maka asked tentatively.

Tapping the cloud, he spun it around to face them and grinned. "Sure is."

"What the hell?" Soul swore. "Are you... _sitting on a cloud?"_

"Maybe," the reaper replied nonchalantly, spinning the cloud lazily. "Well, I have to go prepare for a certain party, so I'll be off." With a mock salute, he dived off the cloud and did a flip, then several corkscrews, then more flips and turns, before settling on lying on his back as he whistled towards the cold snowy ground. About ten seconds before impact, he summoned Beelzebub, hopped on, and created a huge rooster tail of loose snow behind him as he sped off across the surface.

Maka and Soul watched him go with jaws agape.

"He's suicidal," Soul muttered.

"Shut up," his meister reprimanded, but she was shocked too.

_Okay, maybe a little..._

* * *

Finally, the day had arrived. Kid created a mirror portal and ushered René, James, and Anna through, then introduced them to his team.

"Guys, this is René, my mother; James, my human father; and Anna, my biological little sister. You three, this is Maka, Soul, BlackStar, Tsubaki, and my weapons Liz and Patty."

Each party eyed each other warily, then shook hands and eventually began small talk. Kid breathed a sigh of relief. _One down, about fifty to go._ Soon more guests began to arrive, including Lord Death, who greeted James and René like the old friends they were. Anna was talking eagerly with Tsubaki about being a weapon. (After all, her mother was a former Death Scythe - an intricate bladed staff. James had been the meister that turned her into a Death Scythe.)

After about twenty minutes, a glimmering white portal opened in the ceiling above the ballroom floor. Yes, Gallows Mansion had a ballroom.

"What's that, Kid?" Patty questioned eagerly.

Kid looked up, blanched, exchanged a look with his father, then facepalmed and groaned. "My _other_ family..."

"Kid~!" a gentle, melodic voice called out. Five beautiful supermodel-like women descended from the portal and embraced the monochromatic boy eagerly. "We're soooo happy to see you!" the same voice continued, issuing from the mouth of platinum blonde one.

"Hello, Love," he greeted tiredly. "What are you doing here?"

"It sounds funny when you say it like that," the strawberry blonde commented dreamily.

Kid rolled his eyes. "Good to see you too, Contentment. I thought you five weren't coming?"

This time a jet-black haired woman answered. "Oh, but the Sins told us about your party, and we couldn't help but come and see what the fuss was all about!"

"Thank you, Truth. Wait... _Sins?_ They told me you weren't able to make it!"

"Oh well." The brunette patted him on the head. "Sorry about that. They do lie a lot, don't they?"

The young reaper grumbled a little. "Thanks, Compassion, but still. Couldn't you have warned me?"

"They told us you already knew we were coming." The last woman, a completely white-haired beauty, mumbled.

Kid nodded to her. "Well, Humility, as Compassion said, _they lie._" Then he groaned again.

"Mind introducing us?" René asked sweetly.

"Sure," her son answered wearily. "This is Love," he pointed at the platinum blonde, "Contentment," the strawberry blonde, "Compassion," the brunette, "Truth," the black-haired one, "and Humility," the one with white hair. "Otherwise known as Pyar, Santokh, Daya, Sat, and Nimrata in their Sikhism names. The Five Virtues in English."

"Oh, you flatter us," Truth laughed.

Love rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Well, let us go have some cake, no?"

With that the five drifted off. All of them were wearing identical white flowing dresses that billowed behind them as they walked, leaving many a male jaw hanging. Maka smacked Soul when he threatened to start drooling.

"HEY, KID!"

"Crap."

With seven thuds, the newest guests striked what they thought was probably a winning pose. Their leader, a boy with a shock of spiky jet-black hair, jerked his index finger at Kid. "Yo. The Sins have arrived."

Before they could start bantering, Kid quickly pointed them out for his friends. "The one with black hair in front is Greed, the one that's half asleep with the sandy hair is Sloth, the platinum blonde carrying him is Gluttony, the darkest brunette is Wrath, the red-haired one is Pride, the lighter brunette is Envy, and the dirty blonde with no shirt is Lust."

"Way to spoil the surprise," Greed said with a pout. Kid leveled a glare at him.

"Hey, you're Patty, right?" Gluttony called to the young blonde. She giggled and flipped him off. Raising his eyebrows, the blonde dumped Sloth on the ground and stood up straighter. "I challenge you to an eating contest."

All present's jaws dropped. NOBODY challenged Patty Thompson to an eating contest. Except this guy, it would seem. "I accept," she cackled, and the two raced for the table. Kid signaled to the guy monitoring the food to bring out all eighty-eight cakes. They'd be gone soon enough.

"Mm, cake," Greed commented, licking his lips, and wandered off.

Lust sidled up to Liz and tried putting a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, babe." Without a second thought, she punched him in the face. Hard. "Owww!" Reeling back, the boy muttered curses and opted to stand behind Kid instead. "Damn, you weren't kidding. Ah, well." He wiggled his eyebrows at Maka and earned a skull-splitting Maka Chop. "Ffffu-"

"Let's ignore this side of my family," Kid said pleasantly, covering Anna's ears. "Where's Tykka?"

"She couldn't come," Anna said with a pout.

James patted her head. "Maybe next year, hon."

Kid blanched. "Next year?"

Lord Death bounced up and exclaimed happily, "Of course, Kiddo! Why, we'll invite the whole family. Oh, and by the way, family reunion is in two weeks."

This took a moment to sink in. Then...

_"SHIT."_

* * *

**Suggestions and prompts, people! Suggestions and prompts! (The bromance one will be next chapter. Chapter 11 is one I've been wanting to do for a while, but 12 and on will be either suggestions or my crazy imagination. ^^)**

_**Kat**_


	10. An Outing For The Ages

**Eh... YAY FOOD~! And purple santa hats. XD I really don't know what to talk about... so... eh... enjoy the chapter...?**

Vampireninja101: Thanks! Don't worry, there will be a family reunion chapter. I guess you could consider it the sequel to last chapter ^^  
Just-Me-and-My-Brain: I know you reviewed chapter eight, not last one, but thanks anyway!  
Riku Ashwood: D'aww, thanks!  
Annerizu-san: Yep. Fear not, they shall return soon. *maniacal laughter*  
8fangirl8: Kid's shinigami powers have always been very intriguing to me. They appear a lot in my stories, as you can see. c: Thanks! Also, I love that prompt. :D Coming right up!  
Mina888: Of course! I'm going to get to every prompt, I promise. ^^ Thank you!

**Thanks to Mina888 for favoriting/alerting!**

**:D As always, I WANT PROMPTS!**

* * *

An Outing For The Ages

* * *

**Prompt: **'_I would LOVE a bromance one shot. Soul and B*S and Kid hanging out and being BROS! (and maybe throwing Killik into the mix would make it even more awesome? ;3)' -Kara Black  
__'Let's have a guys night out! :D Kid , Black Star, and Soul, have a night out and get into loads of trouble! :)' -Kaoru97_

**Timeline:** Almost six months after the end of the anime.

**Characters:** Death the Kid, Soul Eater Evans, BlackStar, Maka Albarn, Tsubaki Nakatsukasa, Liz and Patty Thompson, Killik Rung

* * *

_"Oh, go make yourselves useful for once!" Maka yelled angrily at her weapon, kicking him out of the apartment. "For Shinigami's sake. Go over to BlackStar's or something. I'm getting ready for our GIRLS ONLY sleepover."_

_Grumbling and glaring at the now-slammed door, Soul heaved himself to his feet and stuck his hands in his_ _pockets._ Guess I'll see what BlackStar's doing.

_He found that BlackStar had been kicked out of their apartment as well, albeit more gently. Heading over to Kid's mansion, they found him blubbering in the lawn about 'Don't mess up the painting on the third floor second hallway four doors down! That's new!' Conceding defeat, the three boys decided they'd have their **own** night out... boys only.  
_-Maka Albarn, Soul Eater Evans, BlackStar, Tsubaki Nakatsukasa, Death the Kid, Liz and Patty Thompson-

* * *

"Where are we going anyways?" Soul grumbled, sticking his hands in his pockets.

BlackStar shrugged, punching his best friend on the shoulder. "Be epic stars! Well, I will, you'll have to stand in my shadow!" Then he laughed his uproarious (and annoying) laugh.

Kid sighed through his nose, opening one eye and glaring at the assassin. "That's your answer for everything."

The boys fell silent as they walked through the dark streets of Death City. Even though they weren't in the shadiest parts of town, there were plenty of pickpockets and muggers worth their mettle in the alleyways and dark corners. Were they competent to rob most people? Yes. Were they a match for a human scythe, an egotistical assassin, and an OCD young Grim Reaper? No.

"That place looks cool," BlackStar suggested, pointing out a shabby karaoke bar.

"Gods no!" Kid protested vehemently. "Let's go up to the DWMA. I can get us inside, and no one will mind if we take a few snacks from the cafeteria."

Soul whistled. "Sounds pretty hard-core for Mr. Uptight-Death-God."

Kid glared at him. "I'm the next Grim Reaper. I can be hardcore if I want to." Then he summoned Beelzebub, seeing as they were a good hundred-or-so blocks and about three thousand stairs from the school gates. Placing one foot on the skateboard, he froze and stepped back, and the three of them stared blankly at the magical device.

"How are we gonna manage this without making it look semi-homoerotic?" Soul asked dryly, earning a snort from BlackStar and a roll of the eyes from Kid.

"Maybe you could hold on to the bottom on either side?" Kid offered.

"How would you hold all three of us up?" BlackStar asked nervously.

The reaper smirked. "Please. Beelzebub has enough power to fly Gallows Mansion to the moon and back. I think he can handle the three of us."

"He?" Soul sniggered.

"I'll explain later," he replied tonelessly, stepping onto the skateboard and making it hover about four feet in the air. "Grab on and hold tight. I would advise against letting go."

"No shit," BlackStar muttered, grasping onto the edge and gripping it until his knuckles turned white. "Let's get this over with..." Soul copied him, and with a rush of air Kid shot them a good four hundred feet in the air.

"WHAAAAT THEEEE HEEELLLL AAAAARREEEE YYOOUUUUU THIIINKIIIIIIIING?" Soul yelled over the wind.

"SORRY!" Kid hollered back, struggling to contain his laughs. He zoomed towards the DWMA, leaving his two friends barely hanging on. "HERE WE ARE." Slowing down the pace, he lowered the two boys onto a balcony.

They jumped and landed unsteadily, looking a little green in the face. Kid landed beside them and calmly retrieved Beelzebub, frowning at the closed and locked door before them. "You got a lockpick or something?" Soul groaned, slightly muffled due to the hand over his mouth.

"No, but I do have this," the meister shot back, showing them his index finger. Breathing on the window, he wrote a huge, long, complicated series of numbers that could rival the first half of pi for complexity. With a _click_ the doors sprang open. "Well, come on," he muttered, slipping inside and locking the doors behind them as his friends sprang through. They stared at one another for a moment, then shrugged and started walking regularly down the dark halls and empty corridors, passing locked classrooms - including their own.

"No Stein in there," Soul commented dreamily, peering through the window. "This is the best I've ever seen it since he came to the school."

BlackStar supressed a laugh, then pointed out, "Well, we had Marie as a teacher for a while too."

"Yeah, when Stein went mad," Kid added absentmindedly, continuing down the hallway and slipping inside the cafeteria. "Hmm, they've got popcorn."

The second he heard that, BlackStar dived forward and snatched the extra-large bag, tossing it in the microwave and positively stabbing the 'Popcorn' button. "Come on, come on!" he encouraged the machine, dancing back and forth for the two minutes and thirty seconds it took to pop. Finally, a beep and a cheer sounded in unison, and he promptly ripped open the bag and dived in.

"Hey, save some for us, man!" Soul protested loudly, snatching a handful.

"B't itsh g'd," BlackStar mumbled, spraying half-chewed popcorn everywhere. Kid ducked and glared at the assassin.

Wandering over to the walk-in pantry, Soul browsed the shelves and found a frozen pizza, more popcorn, some apples, and a huge packet of jelly beans. "Why does your dad stock this stuff?" Soul laughed, raising an eyebrow at Kid as he walked past with his arms laden with items.

Kid shrugged. "There are parties here sometimes. Also, I used to love jelly beans as a child, so he personally saw to it there were some in almost every room in the DWMA."

"Spoiled rich kid," BlackStar complained. "Getting to grow up in a fancy school."

"You grew up here too," Soul pointed out tiredly, munching on a jelly bean.

"Oh yeah..."

The trio stuffed their arms with as many snacks as they could take, and Kid picked the lock on the library doors. The librarian was gone, seeing as tomorrow was Sunday. A row of computers lined one wall, and they walked towards these. "What are we doing?" Soul asked.

Kid shushed him and tapped the screen on a certain computer, then typed in a series of numbers on the keyboard. The wall split and moved aside to show a steel door, looking almost impenetrable.

"Woah! Is there some secret bunker here we don't know about?" BlackStar questioned excitedly.

"See it that way if you want" was his only reply. Placing a hand on the door, Kid closed his eyes for a moment, then the door opened. "Reaper's touch," he explained, dusting his hand off on his jacket. "Only Father and I can open it."

The hallway was dark, but Kid led them surely into...

"A movie theater?" BlackStar cracked up. "Your secret bunker is a movie theater?"

Kid frowned. "Why, do you want to leave?"

"What? No! No, I was just... um. No."

"Good."

A large screen adorned the wall, with a projector aimed at it. Small speakers were positioned all over the place for maximum surround sound. Without glancing up, Kid formed a tiny black kunai out of nowhere and flicked it at a bullseye on the wall. Instantly everything lit up and came to life.

"Welcome, Mr. Kid," a computerized voice greeted.

"Movie selection," Kid ordered.

On the screen appeared thousands of movies, even ones that had only just come out in theaters. "What do you guys want to watch?"

"Ice Age!" BlackStar cheered, leaping into one of the plush chairs and munching on more popcorn.

Kid rolled his eyes and turned to Soul. "Any others?"

Ignoring the whining in the background that 'Ice Age is a great series!' Soul peered through the list and shrugged. "Hellboy?"

"Hm, I wanted to watch Thor," Kid mused. "Whatever."

"Do you have the Avengers?" BlackStar inquired, perking up.

Kid directed his voice to the ceiling. "Call up the Avengers, please."

"Right away, Mr. Kid."

And so they watched the Avengers.

.

And Ice Age.

.

And Hellboy.

.

And Ice Age 2, 3, and 4.

.

By the time 12 pm the next day rolled around, Soul and BlackStar were passed out in the chairs, and Kid was left perched on the only windowsill there that was usually covered to block light. Outside the sun was shining, and he spotted Maka, Tsubaki, Liz, and Patty walking around. They seemed to be talking frantically about something. Focusing his golden eyes, Kid 'zoomed in' his vision (a neat reaper trick) and surmised from reading their lips that their worries were about the three boys that had 'gone missing.' Apparently they were about to call the police. _We can't have that,_ Kid thought, already plotting.

He shook BlackStar and Soul awake and called, "Guys! Our partners are busy worrying out of their hair. They're about to call the police to find us."

"Why doesn't Maka use Soul Perception?" Soul groaned, batting away Kid's hand sleepily.

"Because we're inside a wall, idiot. She couldn't figure out why our souls were in the library, yet weren't, so she dismissed it as being sleepy and has been searching ever since."

"I'm so dead once we're out of here," the scythe muttered.

Kid smirked. "Yeah, but first let's scare them. I've got a plan."

BlackStar, who had been fake snoring, jumped up. "I'm in."

Rolling his eyes, the young reaper quickly explained the plan, then opened the window. "Oh, I never did explain, did I? Beelzebub is a devil," he added, rapping the skateboard with his knuckles. "He's just sleeping right now. Hang on tight!"

Soul and BlackStar watched as Kid did a neat dive out the window, then they leaped after him, catching hold of Beelzebub and holding on tight as the window closed behind them, disappeared, and they soared a good thousand feet in the air.

Focusing his eyesight again, Kid watched as Maka shook her head, confused, then pointed up in the clouds. Sniggering, the reaper whispered to his friends, "She knows we're up in the clouds, but is kind of under the impression you two are dead and floating up into the sky."

Both boys cracked up.

"Priceless," BlackStar chuckled, wiping his eyes. Too late did he realize he'd let go. "AAAHHHH!"

"Damnit," Kid muttered, diving after him and catching him before he could leave the cloud cover. "Sheesh. Alright, initiating Plan. Ready?"

Soul gave him a thumbs up and dropped. "BYEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Struggling to keep his screams in, the albino fell, covering one mouth with his hand. He tumbled through the air, going a little green in the face. Behind him he heard the scream of the air as Kid dropped as well, completely calm. Behind Kid he heard BlackStar's yell as he free-fell through the cold and windy air. Below, he could hear screams and hollers as the girls realized what was happening.

"Training excercise!" Kid yelled amiably, with a carefree grin as he stuck his hands in his pockets and mimed whistling.

"YOU'RE GONNA DIE!" Maka shrieked.

"NO WE WON'T, WE'RE A GOOD THREE HUNDRED FEET FROM THE GROUND!" BlackStar shouted back.

"This is fun!" Soul cheered, playing his part and doing a few flips.

"NOOOOOO!" Tsubaki screamed, sprinting as fast as she could to try and catch BlackStar.

Nobody hit the ground. All four girls screeched to a halt, looking around in a panicked matter. "Kid? Soul? BlackStar?"

Cackling laughter met their ears, and all three boys materialized, held aloft in a dark purple-and-black bubble that Kid had conjured up. "Fooled you!" BlackStar guffawed.

In reply, murderous auras grew around the girls and all three boys gulped.

"So... hehe, how was the sleepover?"

* * *

**PROMPTSPROMPTSPROMPTS**!

_**Kat**_


	11. Phoenix Rise

**What can I say? Inspiration hit. This is an AU of the final battle against Asura, probably anime-verse, but see it as manga if you wish. Also, search 'Ice Age Continental Drift Herd Reunion' on YouTube and listen to that particular soundtrack as you finish the last part of this.**

**Enjoy~!**

* * *

Phoenix Rise

* * *

It had been an all-out battle against the Kishin Asura. DWMA students met Arachnophobia soldiers in scores, fighting for their lives as the madness slowly began to overtake the world. They met in the rainforest jungle, trees blown to bits and slowly burning, Baba Yaga castle half destroyed yet with her forces still coming strong. The DWMA was much the same; many injured, a very very few dead, and more still fighting. BREW had been utilized halfway through the battle, bringing Death City to the fight as well, but Lord Death could not help without crushing hundreds of his own students. And so the clash reigned on.

Far off, on a rocky plain the Kishin had created for shelter, huddled the monstrous creature with a barrier none could see and none could penetrate. The only students who had been able to enter the barrier before it closed were a mere seven in number:

_Maka Albarn, meister._

_Soul Eater Evans, weapon._

_BlackStar, meister._

_Tsubaki Nakatsukasa, weapon._

_Death the Kid, meister and reaper._

_Elizabeth Thompson, weapon._

_Patricia Thompson, weapon._

All that stood between the world and utter chaos and madness. Together, they stood in a small line of three, a puny threat in the Kishin's mind but a ray of hope for the DWMA. They were not ordinary threats. The last of the Star Clan. The next Grim Reaper. And a girl whose soul had proved to be more powerful and true than almost all in this world.

United they stood, and before they fought, they locked hands in a silent agreement - to fight to the end, to fight to the death, to fight until victory was theirs. There was no 'die trying' with them. They would win. Then, only after the world was at peace, were they ready to risk their lives. Who knew what would come of them? Only Fate, and she is cruel to those who are true heroes in this world.

Not a single soul in these seven cared. Not a single one wavered. They could win. They WOULD win. This thought strengthened their resolve, so their locked hands clenched and their souls blazed brighter than the sun in perfect harmony.

Their fight lasted long and devastated both sides. The Kishin, once large after consuming his lover Arachne's soul, had been crippled down to human size and was actually starting to get _angry. _He did not get angry. Who were these humans, these **ants** to try to beat him? He would not let them. He would win.

The three meisters were wounded, their weapons exhausted. Still they forged on, slicing and blasting and pounding their way to victory. Arachnophobia had long since caved, and the DWMA students that could still stand were doing their tiny part by pounding on the clear barrier the Kishin was tied to. He was not dead. The barrier would not budge.

Lord Death tried to crush it, but to no avail. If the seven did not succeed, all was lost and in vain. Not even the Reaper could prevent it from coming.

But his son could.

Still, still, still, forever they fought. Weakening. Drawing gasping breaths. Continuing to force their way through Destiny, change Fate only the tiniest bit if it would spare their friends, family, the world.

BlackStar knew the Enchanted Sword was slowly weakening his soul. He would not let it. He controlled it. He would win. _To surpass God.__  
_

Kid could feel the exhaustion pulling on him, the way his powerful reaper soul was being chipped away by the magnitude of the attacks he was attempting. He could handle it. He would win._ To protect the world._

Maka's thoughts had long since numbed, her soul starting to fade as she tried to prolong their resonance. She would stop it. She would win._ For victory._

The Kishin? He was scared. He felt fear. Who were this insignificant HUMANS? He burned them, stabbed them, broke them, but still they would not stop. He knew his power grew weaker. But WHYWHYWHY? They weren't powerful. They were tiny and... helpless. Perhaps he expected this to some extent from the Reaper, but this was outrageous. What was that. What was that. What was that? WHAT WAS THAT? The girl, her two friends, what were they shouting? What were they chanting at him? It was strengthening their resonance! How? How? HOW?

_"Shōri no tame ni! Hewanotameni! Sekai no tame ni!"_

Again and again they repeated it, their chant becoming a melody, becoming a song that cut deep into his bones and SCARED him. Made him feel fear. Unbidden, the Kishin sunk deeper into his madness, and as he blasted these ants again and again as they approached for the final blow, he screamed, _**"**__**WHAT ARE YOU**_** SAYING?****"**

Shadows cut deep. Cannons blasted fiery hot. Blade sliced him in half.

Together, three faces were the last things the Kishin saw, and they said in unison,

_"For victory. For peace. For the world."_

Then Asura's mad visage calmed. He smirked.

"For the world, huh? Too bad it will burn out with you."

His entire being shattered, and started to glow brighter than any light. Maka collapsed to her knees beside BlackStar, and only Kid was left to see the danger. _"Guys! The blast will CRUSH YOU!"_

Both meister's heads snapped up and they prepared to run, but they knew that they were too late. The light was upon them. Until...

"GET BACK!"

With two metallic sounds, Liz and Patty were thrown unceremoniously into Maka and BlackStar's laps. The last thing they saw was Kid's back, suit torn and bloodied. This did not deter him as he stretched out his arms and shielded his team.

_"For victory. For peace. For-"_

.

"-the world."

For four weapons just waking up, these words were their greeting into the waking world.

"BlackStar!"

"Maka!"

"Kid!"

They looked peaceful to the four. Even as DWMA students slowly filed in, some of them a little burned from the blast, and formed a circle around the picture of grief, the three meisters moved not a muscle. Kid, being a reaper, had survived the blast, but just barely. BlackStar and Maka, being human and not metal, had fared about the same, seeing as they had been shielded.

I watch from above as their eyes flicker open. The answering calls from their partners make them blink.

I think they see me, but it is a fleeting feeling, as all three blink and shakily reach out their hands.

Maka in the middle. BlackStar on her left. Kid on her right.

BlackStar raised his right hand, and Tsubaki tried to move it, but he would not let her.

Kid shakily moved his left hand into the air, and Liz touched it for a moment then let it go, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Maka raised both hands. Soul moved back and watched as sobs racked his body.

Together, they whispered it.

BlackStar moved his lips painfully and muttered, "Shōri no tame ni."

Kid whispered agonizingly, "Hewanotameni."

Maka clasped both their hands tight and together they said, _"Sekai no tame ni."_

Three souls burned with a light that shone across the world, making even me blink as I gaze down on humanity. One silver. One gold. One white. And the white one had wings. Ah yes, Grigori.

I watched their light as it burned out and they died.

And for the first time in the history of the universe, I had reason to cry. So I did.

Two tears splashed down, falling from the atmosphere down to Earth, and landing on either side of the fallen trio. A ring of light, more light, blazed to life around them, and at once they burst into flames.

The assassin, whose once-blue soul defeated the blackness within, and who had a resolve to forge through anything with pride, was silver.

The young reaper, whose heart was pure even though his title dictated darkness, and who had tried his entire life to perfect, now had realized the beauty of all life, was silver.

The girl, who had the soul of an angel, died for her world and knew she was finally at peace. She was white.

And so my colored flames licked around their bodies, turning them slowly to ash. No matter how much their partners tried desperately to get inside my ring, blow the flames away, nothing worked. Soon the peaceful smiles of these faces were gone, now gleaming piles of dark gray ash. So lovely in life. So ugly in death.

'What is this magic?' I pondered. 'I have not felt it before.'

Once again the power of Fate proved to be as sudden as it can be great.

With a flash, the unassuming piles of gray flakes were scattered to all sides, and from the ashes grew the three most beautiful creatures the world ever had - and ever will - set eyes upon.

One silver, one gold, and one white.

Three phoenixes raised their feathered gleaming heads to the sky, and stretched their long, glossy wings.

The world looked on in shocked silence.

Before they flapped, the phoenixes looked to the sky, stared straight at me, and uttered nine human words.

_"Shōri no tame ni. Hewanotameni. Sekai no tame ni."_

The voices of three humans sang the words, then with melodic screeches the birds could not speak again. They lit themselves on fire and took to the sky, cavorting and swooping around each other, leaving their former lives far behind as they flew into the sun.

All seemed to slow down as they flew right by me, and I heard the three human voices once more in my mind.

"Thank you, Destiny."

Then the world unfroze and they were on their way. I smiled. My job is to record history, oversee the lives of all. They'd changed me, just a little. And they knew my name. It had been eons since someone had called my name.

So as they flew across the world, spreading hope and peace where-ever they flapped their wings, I thought something back to them even if they could no longer hear.

_Rise. Rise to the heavens and show the world your love for it. Rise for your past. Rise for the present. Rise for the future._

_Phoenix, rise._

* * *

_**Kat**_


	12. Hidden Strengths

**Heya again! ^^  
**

Riku Ashwood: Why thank you. c: XD  
Maiden of Sarcasm: Yeah, that actually kinda is what prompted the whole 'Seven Deadly Sins' thing... ^^;  
Kaoru97: Thanks! And sure!  
SkylarkOfTheMoon: Thank you so much! I'm glad for your support. :)  
PandaBearSoul: Too bad for you. :P This is my favorite story at the moment, so expect more updates.  
8spunkangel8: Thanks for the prompt, by the way. ;D  
Mina888: I responded to you via PM, but thanks for reviewing! oDo

**Thanks to 8spunkangel8, OkamiKazeKage, and luvthesea14 for favoriting/alerting!**

**Because Kid doesn't get enough credit. Seriously. I'll save you the rant and just say it: The anime is so WRONG about his strength. BlackStar is the strongest attacker, I get that, but MAKA has the most powerful soul? Maybe for a while, yes, but Kid is the next GRIM REAPER. He doesn't get enough love. D:**

**So whoop-de-doo with Maka's soul perception, Kid is more awesome than you. :P Then again, I am majorly biased in this, so please no flames. c:**

**Anyways, enough with the rambling, this is basically an introspective Kid-being-frustrated-with-the-world and spilling-it-to-his-friends kinda chat thing. ;)**

* * *

Hidden Strengths

* * *

**Prompt: **_My crazeh imagination._

**Timeline:** In between 'Resonance Link - Play the Melody of the Souls?' or whatever it's called and the defeat of the Kishin. i.e., there is still that tacky cloud of red all over the world. c:

**Characters:** Death the Kid, Maka Albarn, BlackStar, Liz and Patty Thompson, Soul Eater Evans, Tsubaki Nakatsukasa, and probably some others I'm too lazy to mention.

* * *

_"I think you should hit me. I hit you earlier. This'll be payback."_

_"I'm not gonna hold back."_

_"Good. It wouldn't mean anything if you did."_

-Maka Albarn and BlackStar-

* * *

Kid sighed and cracked open one eye as he watched Maka and BlackStar argue about the latest petty thing. _BlackStar's just frustrated and pent up because that Kishin egg got away from him, and Maka got a B- on a test because she was too worried about almost everything. One plus the other equals fighting and no resonance. _He felt like adding 'These humans never cease to amaze me,' onto his train of thought, but decided that was cruel and tried to forget it.

"You're such an idiot! I thought we'd worked this out, but you just HAD to ruin it again!" Maka was shouting.

"I'm not the one who ruined it! You're our team leader, shouldn't you be 'accepting' and all that crap?!"

"Kind of hard to be accepting when your team mate is being a stuck-up little jerk!"

"Kind of hard to be a good team mate when your team leader is a moron!"

"Shut the hell up! You're just annoyed because you lost to that Kishin on your last mission!"

"I did NOT lose! He was too fast and ran away like a coward!"

"You lost, face it!"

"I did NOT!"

"Yes you did!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

Kid couldn't take it any longer. _"Shut UP!"_ the reaper snapped, effectively silencing them. "For the love of Death, you sound like two squabbling toddlers. Start acting your age." Both of them were shocked. Kid NEVER reacted or shouted. He was always the calm, stoic one.

"This isn't your business, Kid," BlackStar retorted, but he sounded unsure of himself. All four weapons watched quietly.

The reaper stepped forward threateningly. "Isn't it?"

Maka raised her hands defensively. "We can work it out. Just-"

"No you can't." Kid rolled his eyes. "Both of you are overreacting to petty things. Why can't you see what is IMPORTANT? Look up. The sky is _red._ Three guesses as to why."

Neither deemed that with an answer, but BlackStar started to mutter; "She insul-"

"Of course she insulted you!" he snapped. "And you insulted her. Gods, you're not four years old."

For a minute, all three meisters were silent, then BlackStar was stupid enough to mumble "Like you would know, dissolving into a temper tantrum every time you see something asymmetrical."

Kid rounded on him, eyes blazing. "That. Is. It," he hissed. "I'm not taking this crap any longer. From you either." He glared at Maka. "Symmetry is balance, is Order, and it is my job- my EXISTENCE- to protect Order. Listen to the pair of you, fighting like squirrels over a nut. Think about your words. Here one moment, gone in a millisecond. A blink of an eye. And you know what? Your lifetimes, compared to mine, will end up being about equal to a blink. Your responsibilities are fleeting and irrelevant. As soon as chichiue is no longer Lord Death, I will be responsible for the entire world. You can bet I won't squander my time on foolish arguments and small spats."

Jaws hung.

"You really think we're that disposable?" Maka replied, shaken.

Kid froze and his golden eyes twisted with some unreadable emotion. "Of course not. I'm trying to get you to see how childish and annoying your fighting is. I thought you resolved it, the day we first suceeded in linking souls, but it would appear I stand corrected." Taking a deep breath, he turned on his heel and announced, "I need some air. Excuse me for a moment." Then he walked with his hands in his pockets out of the clearing, leaving his dumbstruck team behind.

"Dumbass!" BlackStar yelled at his retreating back. Maka didn't reply, but glared at the reaper and the assassin both.

"What the hell was _that?"_ was all Soul could manage.

Liz and Patty shrugged, completely nonplussed. "Maybe he's in one of his moods," Liz murmured.

"He has moods?" Soul inquired dryly.

"Yep," Patty giggled. "It's not always symmetry. Sometimes it's just all the, stress, and stuff..." She pursed her lips in a decisively un-Patty-like show of solemnity. "He gets really withdrawn and just snaps at either of us when we try to talk to him."

"Whatever for?" Tsubaki asked softly.

Liz hesitated. "Stress, like Patty said. Usually 'cause... well, he's the next Grim Reaper, and with his father stuck here, all of that responsibility falls on his shoulders when at his age he should rightfully be able to ignore it. Besides, you know what a Reaper's task really is, besides the whole school thing. That's just the current Lord Death."

Maka's glare softened, but only a little bit. "Still. He made it sound like we were worthless."

"He doesn't think that," Liz tried to soothe her, but the scythe meister was unconvinced.

"Hmph. Whatever his mood, he didn't have to snap at us like that."

Soul mumbled something like "You weren't solving it yourselves..." and promptly earned a book slammed into his skull. BlackStar started to argue and earned the same treatment. Tsubaki started to gently remind her drooling meister, half-conscious as he was, about how they needed to work together on this. Maka reprimanded her weapon angrily while he rolled on the ground in pain and whimpered in agreement. Liz and Patty had withdrawn to talk between themselves, growing distant, like how they had been on the streets before Kid had met them.

And behind all of their backs, twenty yards afield across the clearing, Kid sat with his back against a tree, staring off into space - aka a spot in the sky just above Tsubaki's head. He remained unnoticed for a good twenty minutes, in which Maka and BlackStar had dissolved into another argument, Tsubaki trying to calm them down, Soul watching with narrowed eyes, and Liz and Patty still withdrawn.

After a particularly heated comment courtesy of BlackStar, thrown at Maka and by proxy Kid, about how 'you always take Kid's side anyways! The two of you are goody two-shoes, sucking up to the teachers! How am I supposed to be on a team with you idiots anyway?!' Kid found it a good idea to comment quietly, "Are you quite done arguing?"

The team spun around in surprise to see the young reaper sitting with his back against a tree facing them, knees drawn up to his chest and half his body and face shrouded in shadow while the other half was aglow with the pale evening light. It made him look downright unearthly.

"How long have you been there?" BlackStar accused.

"Long enough," Kid answered with a sigh, standing up. "It's evening. Liz, Patty, we didn't get any work done. We'll be staying home tomorrow. Let's go."

Both sisters, who were loyal to their meister far more than the team at this point (they had been extremely disapproving of the row between the other two meisters, and were sticking with Kid), shot narrowed looks at the rest of the team and flashed into their partner's hands as guns. He had summoned Beelzebub, and with the quiet roar of the engines, took off into the darkening sky.

BlackStar flipped him off as he soared away, and earned two shots placed symmetrically millimeters away from his toes in return.

* * *

The next month showed little progress being made - the team, once one of the elite and well-favored resonance teams, had been declared unofficially disbanded for the time being. Kid, Liz, and Patty were still taking missions, but had not set foot in the DWMA other than to report to the Death Room since that night almost four weeks ago. BlackStar had gotten a lot more quiet and rude, Tsubaki sad and withdrawn, while Maka had been taking out her abrasive temper on her partner and Blair. Soul had taken to hanging out with BlackStar more and more, to escape his meister's overlording. Blair spent most of her time in Chupa Cabra's.

One day, the tension came to a broil, because of a ill-timed comment in the cafeteria...

_34 Days Since 'That Day'..._

BlackStar sat down at his table in the cafeteria with a grunt, attacking his monstrous plate of food with half-hearted enthusiasm. Tsubaki ate quickly and quietly next to him, shooting those tiny glances that annoyed him so much every so often. The 'oh-no-he's-eating-like-that-again' looks coupled with 'I-think-he's-depressed' with a healthy dash of 'what-do-I-do?!'.

"We're coming in on Saturday and that's final!"

Slam.

The assassin didn't even have to look up to know that both noises had emmitted from the very annoying and pissed-off monster known as Maka as she seated herself at the end of the table that the blue-haired meister was sitting at. Soul sat down across from his meister and groaned, "Not cool. Extra lessons again?"

BlackStar had to surpress a snort. Unfortunately, a certain scythe meister had ears like a bat and whipped her head around to face him, pigtails flying comically. "What was that?!" she hissed.

"Oh, come on now," Tsubaki tried to soothe as her meister pointedly ignored the ashen-blonde meister. "Let's not start this again."

"She started it," BlackStar pointed out childishly.

Maka slammed her hand down and stood up, making only a few other students jump around in surprise (they were used to it). "Say that again, you little bastard."

"Dirty words from the teacher's pet," he mocked instead. "What a shocker."

"Why you-"

She was held back by Soul, as he tried to push her away from the annoyance and to a different table. Tsubaki put a warning hand on her meister's shoulder; not that it had any effect. People were starting to clear the cafeteria in preparation for another brawl when a disturbance rippled through them. It only caught the attention of the two seething meisters and their weapons when a smooth, familiar voice cut through the air.

"At it again, I see."

Both BlackStar's and Maka's heads snapped round, and they snarled in almost perfect unison, "Kid."

The young shinigami returned their glares with his normal, half-lidded bored look. Today, however, there was an icy glint of something otherwordly and deadly flickering in his golden eyes. "Nice to see you too."

"I'm afraid I can't return that sentiment," Maka muttered resentfully. "Where've you been?"

"Important business of my father's," he responded easily.

"None of your business," Liz added sharply, a slight drawl slurring her words. She and Patty had returned almost entirely to giving off the same street-thug vibe as they had before becoming Kid's partners. The younger had a slightly deranged, unhinged look in her blue eyes that spoke of something more dangerous than her usual insanity in her baby-blue eyes.

This caught Maka off guard a little, and her eyes widened the slightest bit. "You look like you've been doing the devil's work."

"We have," Kid responded completely seriously, and his eyes narrowed. For a split second all those looking on could have sworn that his face was briefly submerged in shadow, skulls dancing around him and an aura of death pulsing through the room. Then it was gone, and the only ones unaffected were Kid and the sisters.

"Like it?" Patty giggled manically, fiddling with a small object - a pocket knife?! - in one hand. "Kiddo's been working on it. Works when we hafta scare some crappy monsters off, y'know?"

"Language," Kid reminded her absentmindedly. "We came because chichiue has a mission for the four of you. We're supposed to escort you to the Death Room."

"You think we can't find our way there?" BlackStar sneered.

Kid's aura darkened again. "No, we're just making sure you get there."

All four stood and filed around the table to stand in front of Kid and the Thompsons. With a jerk of his head, the reaper led them out, and the two sisters flanked them. The other students, who had been watching like rabbits frozen in the glare of a headlight, went back to eating.

Only fifty paces down the hallway, in a rather secluded corridor with no classrooms, BlackStar tugged on Tsubaki's hand sharply. Reluctantly, she transformed into ninja sword mode and her meister held her to the back of Kid's neck. In an instant, their little train stopped dead and with a small click the blue-haired boy felt the cold steel of Liz in her gun form, resting against the back of his neck. It was Maka and Soul's turn to look like rabbits in the headlights.

"Yes?" Kid asked calmly. Patty chuckled creepily and pressed the barrel of her sister's gun form a little deeper into the assassin's neck.

"So much as twitch that hand, mister, an' I'll blow yer frickin head off."

The spiky-haired boy remained unmoving. "I wanna know what's going on. You disappear off the face of the earth for a month, then come back and order us around like we're your slaves and your weapons are your bodyguard thugs."

Patty cocked the gun with a click and a tiny snarl. Kid held up his hand placatingly, and she froze, but didn't move her sister.

"Yes, I suppose you should have an answer," the reaper mused. "However, I am not obligated to give you one, nor shall I until you reach the Death Room. Preferably alive. Well, my orders were to bring you there, not necessarily in one piece..."

"You think you can take me, you bastard?" BlackStar challenged heatedly. "I'll surpass you easily!"

Before any of them could so much as blink, Kid had whipped away from Tsubaki's blade, flipped into the air, and smashed BlackStar into the ground with his heel, leaving a small crater and a cloud of dust. Patty started to glow and prepare to toss her sister forward, but Kid waved her off.

BlackStar sprang to his feet and prepared to tackle the reaper, but Tsubaki transformed back, and, in a decidedly un-Tsubaki-like way, slapped him. All of them froze.

"That's enough!" the normally gentle weapon shouted. Her meister gaped at her. "I've had enough of your fighting. You guys are a TEAM, and you have to work together." She glared at Maka and Soul. "I told you two the same thing when we fought the werewolf in London. Kid, this goes for you too." She whirled on the reaper, who blinked, still surprised. "You were right in what you said a month ago while we were practicing, but you've been drawn into this petty fight too. Don't deny it." Then she crossed her arms and glared at them all sternly. "Now. Make up."

The three meisters, plus Soul, gazed in total bewilderment at her for a moment, then turned to each other. Liz and Patty blinked, losing a little of their street thug vibe, then crossed their arms and joined Tsubaki. Kid rolled his eyes at them helplessly.

"Yeah, do it or I'll blow yer faces off!" Patty cackled, regaining some of her old cheer.

Soul and BlackStar gulped and faced off with the other two. Maka was still wearing her stubborn look, but more hesitant, and Kid looked unsure.

"Do it," Liz advised dryly, face flashing on the barrel of her gun form.

Kid stretched out a hand to Maka, schooling his face into a perfectly stoic expression. She paused and looked it over for a minute, shooting glances between Tsubaki, Soul, BlackStar, Patty, then back to Kid. Then she shook hands slowly.

"BlackStar," Tsubaki warned. Her partner winced and gingerly shook hands with Maka, letting go quickly, then glared Kid down and flicked his gaze upwards meaningfully at the huge red bruise on the crown of his head, courtesy of the reaper's kick.

"Do I have to?" he complained childishly. Tsubaki's glare intensified. Gulping, the sheepish blue-haired assassin barely touched his hand to Kid's, jerked it, then let go.

Sighing, his weapon conceded, "I suppose that will have to do."

They all shuffled in a small blob down the hallway to the Death Room, maintaining a stony silence. That is, until Kid commented sourly about the placement of his kick, and both Patty and Maka couldn't supress their giggles any longer. BlackStar joined in after a moment, Liz smirked happily, Soul grinned, and Tsubaki chuckled softly.

Kid was walking only a few paces behind the rest, and as they dissolved into their normal chatter once more, he reflected on the impressive short term memory of humans, and how quickly they forgot a grudge.

But, he decided with a small half-smile and joined in the conversation, it was one of their best qualities. Not the short term memory, that is. Their ability to laugh even in a hard time such as this.

_I suppose it's a good thing to remember for the next few centuries. They're good friends to have._

_After all, even humans have hidden strengths._

* * *

**Ack, I turned it into a team fic, didn't I? Oh well. ^^ Hope you enjoyed my corny ending.**

**_Kat_  
**


	13. Finally, Peace

**I know, so soon? *le gasp* What is the world coming to?**

**Nah, I'm kidding. I saw this not too long ago in a different fic, and I liked the idea... so I'm putting a special twist on it. ;D**

**Also, I might stop putting my replies to reviews in the actual chapter. X3 As much as I love doing it, I find myself getting less and less access to a computer, and therefore cannot make the single line break that I like to do. Plus it annoys me and I'm getting lazy. .3.**

* * *

Finally, Peace

* * *

**Prompt: **_Inspiration. o3o_

**Timeline:** Hmm... after the anime? /shrugs

**Characters: **Death the Kid, Liz and Patty Thompson, BlackStar, Tsubaki Nakatsukasa, Maka Albarn, Soul Eater Evans

* * *

_To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die._

-Thomas Campbell-

* * *

After the defeat of the Kishin, many a year passed peacefully. Kishin eggs grew fewer, the witches more open to negotiation, the students at the Academy more joyful, and the haze of madness and despair had all but lifted from the world.

The elite team of three meisters and four weapons that had together vanquished Asura was praised and exalted, and for almost a decade they were active and revered throughout both the DWMA and the world, at least the parts that knew of the Academy. But all good things must come to an end.

BlackStar and Tsubaki, now at the ages of twenty-four and twenty-eight, left Death City to travel the world and learn of new martial arts and fighting techniques. The blue-haired assassin had decided he would learn all he could, then one day return and battle Kid once again - this time to win completely, no symmetry involved.

Kid and the sisters broke off next, and were the first out of the team to achieve the rank of Death Scythe. (The sisters, that is.) They were put in charge of North America, while Spirit - growing older - stayed in Death City exclusively. After a while, Kid's training to be the next Grim Reaper engulfed him, and he grew more distant from the mortal world entirely. Lord Death, too, spent far more time in his mirror than was normal, preparing his son in every way possible for the moment when his strength would wane and a new Reaper would gain responsibility for the world.

Soul was the next to reach Death Scythe, catapulting Maka into the rank of two-star meister. She began to realize her talents as a weapon, and as Soul became busy with the task of overseeing Oceania (Marie had finally found 'true love' with BJ the coffee man, and retired to settle down with him), the former scythe meister - now a scythe weapon - became like Justin Law, a self-operating dual meister-and-weapon. She, too, became a Death Scythe, and was put in charge of South America after the current Death Scythe disappeared off the face of the earth.

And so the team was completely, utterly divided. They stayed this way for ten more years, Maka, Soul, BlackStar, and Kid (maybe- they weren't sure about his age) were at the age of thirty-four or so, Patty was thirty-five, Liz was thirty-seven, and Tsubaki was thirty-eight. The latter had become a sort-of girlfriend to her partner, still being the only one on the planet who could put up with his 'Godlike tendencies' to shout at everything bigger than him in public.

(It should be added that none of them had grown up much. They were all still children in adult bodies. Aside from, perhaps, Kid; that is to say his OCD had lessened severely in the light of his soon-to-be fate as the next Grim Reaper.)

Now, all of them being in their thirties, they'd decided to plan a get-together, to reconnect with 'the old gang.' Lord Death located BlackStar and Tsubaki via mirror, and alerted them to the meeting place - the clearing where they had first achieved Soul Resonance as a team, one of the most important milestones they'd made together. Maka was called up from Brazil, Soul from Hawaii, and Liz and Patty from their old hometown of Brooklyn. Kid took a brief break in his ongoing training, not wanting to miss out on their first reunion in almost two decades.

They had a grand picnic, an all-you-can-eat buffet carted specially into the forest courtesy of Lord Death. Most of the team excepting Kid had been rather shocked at their 'leader's' appearance: As he neared the end of his reign, his mask had begun to crack completely down the middle. He still hadn't lost any of his cheer, however.

Together they talked away the day, sharing stories and adventures, and BlackStar had threatened to challenge Kid to a duel right then and there. When asked why he didn't, the assassin had simply replied that he had more to learn. Kid therefore replied with a smirk that he'd grown up, and, a direct quote, that it was "a miracle."

When the sun had long set and all they'd had was a camping lantern to light their faces as they talked, all seven admitted defeat and retired to a huge slumber party in Kid's massive living room in Gallows Mansion. (Keep in mind they're all thirty or so, camping out together like teenagers.)

The next day, they parted ways again, only to promise that they'd do it again every decade. All proclaimed that they couldn't wait.

Six years later, that promise threatened to break.

BlackStar and Tsubaki had gone missing in dangerous Kishin egg territory, and had not been heard from in months. Maka and Soul had paired up again in an unlikely reunion to try and rescue them, but had themselves disappeared. When he'd caught wind of it, Kid had known immediately who would be next; but despite his warnings and pleas, both Liz and Patty ventured into the death trap. All six were now missing. Being the only one left, Kid had begged his father to go after them, but was harshly denied. There were only days before Lord Death's strength waned and the necessary preparations had to be made for that moment. And so, somewhat reluctantly, Kid waited for almost a week.

In one explosive day, Lord Death's soul winked out, an earthquake shook Death City (without any consequences, surprisingly), and the cracked mask was all that was left.

Picking it up, Kid - now Death - pieced it together and bonded it with pure soul energy, leaving the crack like a scar to remind himself of his sacrifice. He never went as far as to completely shield his face, however. His cloak was always present, but you could see under the mask the tiniest bit, and on occasions his golden eyes flashed through the holes.

So, pledging to rescue his friends, Kid made the journey into the territory that now held his missing comrades.

Eighty days and eighty nights the world waited, anxiously, hoping for word from their leader that he was back. (The dead souls continued to be guided to the afterlife, though none were sure how.)

On the eighty-first day, Death emerged from the forest, carrying around him on floating golden masks the half-dead bodies of his six friends.

Six months it took them to recover, but they were all back on their feet and functional. Their ages now totaled forty-three (Maka, BlackStar, and Soul), forty-four (Patty), forty-six (Liz), and forty-seven (Tsubaki). Kid, when asked, denied that he had an age at all.

Once again they parted, after another picnic, albeit admitting their reunion had been a little early.

Twenty years passed, and all seven had been far too busy with their respective lives to have another get-together.

At the age of sixty-five, BlackStar was killed how he'd always wanted to be - fighting to the death against a huge number of Kishin eggs. No matter how fit, age had finally caught up to the man who would surpass God.

He never did have that duel with Kid.

Tsubaki was unable to handle her partner's death, and, losing the will to live, died at the ripe age of sixty-nine.

Maka and Soul had teamed up to handle a trio of particularly nasty witches, and died the way they'd lived in battle: Holding hands.

Liz and Patty had become Death's personal weapons, but were both taken out by a large number of Kishin eggs roaming the alleyways in Brooklyn where they'd been overseeing some business.

Death mourned them, every one, and had regretfully not been able to guide them to the afterlife. Some souls rejected the Reapers, being powerful enough to find their own way. Little did he know they'd done it out of respect for him.

This time we skip ahead almost a thousand years, to when Death has had a child of his own - an energetic little girl, with long black hair and three perfect white lines, not to mention an overwhelming case of symmetry OCD - by splitting off a part of his soul. She wields, unknowingly, a pair of twins that are descended from the same family as the legendary Thompson girls. Her weapons are a girl and a boy, two identical bladed silver spears.

She fights alongside a close relative of the Star Clan, Kasai, and her partner, a girl of the Nakatsukasa family by the name of Hana. The third addition to their resonance team is a boy, the great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson of Wes Evans, a demon scythe, and his meister: a boy related distantly to a child, unwittingly sired by Spirit Albarn during one of his many trysts.

Death knows that his daughter, along with her friends, will take care of the world he cherishes. They will guard it with their lives and souls. And so, after nearly a thousand years, he lets the sealed mask crack and reveals for the first time in ten centuries his entire face, to only his daughter. Then he gives her one last smile, flashes his golden eyes, and speaks of a boy. Utterly obsessed with symmetry, alone in the world save his father, and devoid of friendship. He tells her a wild story of how he meets two girls who will later become his most loyal partners, of a crazy assassin and a gentle dark arm, a bookworm of a scythe meister and a cool-to-a-fault demon scythe.

He tells her of their adventures, how they become friends.

He tells her of the deaths of the six friends, leaving the boy alone once more.

Then he cups her cheeks in his hands, wiping away the tears she has unwittingly let go, and says softly a poem he learned long ago from his own father.

_"When your feet are sore and your legs are weak_

_when your strength has waned and your passion grown meek_

_look back at your footprints immortalized in stone_

_think to yourself that all along, you've walked alone_

_gaze at the horizon you've left behind_

_and know that soon, a better place you'll find._

_Look into the sunset that's far in your past_

_remember the friendships you'd thought would last_

_think back on the souls you'd thought had faded_

_and know that the truth has in fact been shaded._

_Stare into the fading light and know_

_that despite it's now the end of the show_

_you__ need no longer waste time debating_

_for ahead are the souls of your friends_

_waiting."_

He tells her not to cry, and reassures her it'll all be alright. Then in a flash of golden light he is gone, leaving the mask in eight pieces. She picks it up, and, instead of mending it, seals half of the mask back together, then creates a new half for herself and dons it, fastening the black cloak that appears before her around her shoulders.

"I promise to be strong and look after my friends," she promises in a whisper.

Far away, in the mists of the realm of the dead, Death walks through, marveling at his hands and his reflection in the water he is wading through, though it does not feel wet. He has become the vision of the teenager he once was, except that his Sanzu lines are connected.

Before him stands his father, mask uncracked and bouncing like he always used to.

"Chichiue!" Death- no, Kid- cries, hugging his father.

Voices echo in his ears, and the reaper turns with a smile wide enough to split his face as six familiar faces emerge from the mist.

"Took you long enough," BlackStar complains.

Instead of retorting, Kid clasps him in the hug of a long-lost brother. He does the same to Soul, and Maka and Tsubaki. Then he stands before Liz and Patty, and for a moment all is silent.

Then Patty leaps forward and engulfs him in a tight hug, and without a moment's hesitation, Liz joins in.

The other four add to the group hug, then they walk into the light of the afterlife, talking and joking like old times.

Together.

* * *

**I hate to spoil this with my immaturity, but cornyyyy. XDDDD**

**Hope you liked! REVIEW. NOW.**

**_Kat_  
**


	14. The Maze

**Haha, hello again~ Sorry for the wait. Had a bit of trouble getting this done XP  
**

**Thanks to mahxie, dreamwritergoddess, and Lovely Lines and Lace for favoriting/alerting!**

**If you've only seen the anime and don't know what NOT and EAT mean, here you go:**

**NOT- Normally Overcome Target. These students comprise almost 90% of the DWMA student population. They are not very good, and a lot of them are partnerless, and come to the DWMA usually because they have nowhere else to train (especially the weapons). They are not given missions. Most of the weapons either cannot transform or can only transform partially, and none can resonate.**

**EAT- Especially Advantaged Talent. All of the characters you meet in the anime that go to the Academy are EAT, including Kid, Maka, and the rest of the team. Only about 10% of the student body make it into EAT.**

**Read Soul Eater NOT! to learn more. ^^**

* * *

The Maze

* * *

**Prompt:** _Too long to paste here, but credit goes to 8spunkangel8!_

**Timeline:** After the anime sometime.

**Characters:** Death the Kid, Liz and Patty Thompson, Lord Death, Maka Albarn, Soul Eater Evans, BlackStar, Tsubaki Nakatsukasa, Ox Ford, Harver D'Eclair, Kim Diehl, Jacqueline O Lantern Dupre, Killik Rung, Pot of Fire and Pot of Thunder, Sid Barett, Franken Stein, Spirit Albarn

* * *

_"You can't be serious," Kid deadpanned._

_His father just gave him the peace sign with one huge white hand. "Nope~! Some of the NOT kids are getting pretty good, but I can't send them on real missions like the EAT students. Sooo~, I developed this maze-obstacle-course thingamajig!"_

_"Oh, for the love of-" his son groaned, putting his head in his hands. "So you want me and the girls to spend a week in your maze."_

_"Yep~!"_

_"Fine."_

_And so the deal was sealed._

-Lord Death and Kid-

* * *

_**Day One ;;**_

"No manicures for an entire _week?!"_ Liz shrieked.

Kid sighed. "Yes. But I'll take you out shopping with a $10,000 budget for the both of you when we're done."

That perked her up. "Done." Patty was rolling on the floor with laughter.

They each got one backpack filled with essentials - food (mostly dried stuff), a lighter, canteens of water, a knife or two, a compass, and a change of clothes. Kid had been allowed to keep his customary monochrome suit, but Liz and Patty had been given cargo pants, tan safari-style jackets, cropped tanktops, and combat boots. Liz had complained that it 'wasn't stylish,' to which Kid replied that if she wanted to look stylish when she died of hypothermia, she could go right ahead.

Both sisters wore the outfits without further complaint. A lot of giggling was accompanied, however.

"Now, you'll be video taped," Lord Death was warning them, "but it's just for me to review the results, so no need to act stellar or anything." This was met with a chorus of noncommital shrugs and 'okays'. "Also, I won't help you unless you're absolutely on the brink of dying. Got it? You're on your own." Again, more 'okays', but a lot of shivering on Liz's part.

They were led to the entrance of the maze, a tall archway comprised completely of shrubbery. "Good luck!" Lord Death cheered, then pushed the trio through. A concrete wall slammed down behind them. Liz jumped, Patty cackled, and Kid gazed forward calmly.

"Ready? Let's go."

"Let's GO~!" Patty beamed, skipping after him.

Liz whimpered. "O-o-okay..."

As they walked, they took time to glance around. A fake sky arched high overhead, the sun beaming down on them hotly. It was rather like the Death Room in the sense that it was much larger on the inside than should be possible. Tiny clouds, looking similar to the ones that always floated around the Death Room, arced lazily across the sky. Liz sighed. She was starting to get thirsty. "Hey Kid, can I drink some of my water?"

"No."

"What?! Why?"

With a long-suffering sigh, Kid turned his head and stated simply, "Drink it now and you'll die of dehydration at the end of the week."

She forced down a wail and rubbed her head. "This is gonna be hell. Three of us and six canteens of water? We're **definitely** gonna die! I'm too young... I was due for a pedicure tomorrow morning..." Her complaints railed on while Patty giggled and Kid efficiently tuned them out.

**MEANWHILE, IN THE** **DWMA...**

Stein rolled his chair around to face Class Crescent Moon. It was far more packed than usual, given that a good sixteenth of the NOT students were crammed in amongst the EAT.

"Alright, listen up, class. If you don't know why you're here, leave."

Two people got up nervously and left.

"Good. Those of you who do know why they're here, get ready for a show. We're going to watch the test run of Lord Death's new training device, the Maze." A projector screen rolled down and the lights dimmed. On the screen was an overhead view of the maze, and in the center was a shining golden trophy symbol. Three red dots near the outer edge indicated where Kid and the Thompsons were. These three dots were slowly moving. "The golden dot is the prize, and it's what our three 'contestants' are trying to reach." An official school picture of the trio flashed up on the screen, Kid with his hands in his pockets looking bored, and the Thompsons smiling. "Death the Kid, Liz Thompson, and Patty Thompson. I'm sure you all know them." The professor looked pointedly at Maka, Soul, BlackStar, and Tsubaki in the front row. "Over the next week, instead of having class, we'll be watching the coverage of their maze struggle. Get ready for some fun." He rubbed his hands together and his glasses glinted maniacally. The whole room shivered.

Then, Stein pressed a button, and the screen transformed.

_On it was a moving image of the trio walking, Patty laughing her head off as usual as she teased Liz, and Kid quietly reprimanding the both of them. A voice (Spirit's, of course) was narrating._

**"Hello, my lovely audience! Maka, if you're watching, your daddy loves you."**

Half the class laughed, the other quivered in fear of a Maka Chop, and the meister herself grew a dark and scary aura around her as she plotted to spill her father's brains all over the pavement later.

**"This is from earlier this morning, when our trio first entered the Maze. Currently they're in the middle of a rather nasty fight, so our cameras are going to be jumping around a little. Get ready for some action!"** The class cheered.

_Kid was flipping around a huge, scaly lizard with spikes on the end of its tail which were currently being flung at the young reaper. He was firing so quickly it was hard to see, his pinkies a blur and the pink flashes neverending. Spirit continued commentary like it was a race._

**"It's the lizard! It's Kid! It's the lizard! Kid! Lizard! BOTH! And- ooh, that's gotta hurt!"**

The whole class gasped as a flurry of spikes flew at the meister faster than the eye could see. With superhuman speed, the reaper managed to dodge most of them, but one ripped through his side, leaving a shallow gash across his abdomen. Tsubaki covered her eyes in horror. (The rest of the class cheered when Kid got back up and kept on fighting.)

"This is barbaric!" Maka commented in a whisper to her partner.

Soul shrugged. "Lord Death'll intervene if it gets too bad. He'll be fine. You've seen him on missions before."

**"Aaaand he's back up! Look at those triggers go! Definitely not a good start to the week, folks, but Kid's still going strong. And... and... it's Kid! That lizard is history!"  
**

_With a small explosion of pink flashes, the lizard was gone, replaced by a pile of dust. Kid swore, something along the lines of 'damnlizardIcan'tbelievechichiueputoneofthos ehere'. Throwing the guns behind him, he knelt down with a pained wince and pulled a scrap of cloth out of his backpack. Pulling the torn fabric of his suit away from the cut, he inspected it for a moment.**  
**_

_"You gonna be okay?" Liz asked anxiously.  
_

_"Fine. It'll heal by the third day in here. It's not poisoned, so I just have to bind it." Threading the cloth around his middle, he pulled it as tight as he could manage, biting his lip and tying a secure knot. "Let's keep going."_

_Patty had stopped her laughter, and was following him closely, like Liz. They offered to take his bag, but Kid shrugged them off. The cameras panned above their heads, complete with a dramatic shot of the rest of the Maze, then it cut to Spirit, standing in the Death Room with Lord Death and holding a microphone._

**"So, an injury this early into the week! I'm here with Lord Death, the creator. Lord Death, what do you think will happen if Kid sustains many more wounds in the first few days?"**

Lord Death sighed. **"You're taking this to heart, Spirit. You realize we're talking about my son, right?"**

**"Yes, yes, but he's a contestant now! So, my question?"**

**"Reaper CHOP!"**

The class cheered, then the screen cut back to Kid. This time, it was pretty much nightfall. Glancing out the window, Maka noted that this must be from only about an hour ago - it was approximately 9 o'clock. Apparently they were going to have to sleep here in Class Crescent Moon, so Stein could wake them up to catch the action in time. The blonde meister suppressed a groan.

**"Ooookay, let's see what our contestants have decided to do for dinner~!"** Spirit was narrating, and the quick shot of him showed that Lord Death was no longer there and a white bandage was wrapped around the redhead's hair.

_Liz and Patty were blowing gently on the fire, keeping it alive while Kid prepared the food. They'd insisted he sit still and take it easy. The reaper was clearly frustrated with himself, glaring down at his midriff every so often and clenching his fist as he was laying out some raw strips of beef._

_"You okay?" Liz asked for the millionth time._

_Sighing, Kid shot back, "I am FINE, Liz. Stop mothering."_

**"Awww..."** Spirit chose that moment to comment.

_"It's getting cold," Patty commented with a shiver. Kid glanced up, puzzled._

_"No it's- oh. I don't feel cold." He sounded like he was reminding himself. Sifting through one of their packs, he cursed. "No space blankets or anything like that. Damn. All we have are these thin cotton sheets." He pulled out a bundle of cloth. Liz and Patty groaned._

_"What now?" Liz moaned._

_Kid grimaced. "I suppose I could give you two my jacket... it's not big enough for two, though."_

_"Your shirt too?" Patty suggested with a small giggle._

_Her meister flamed bright red. "No way."_

_"Come on, the only one who's watching is your father!" Liz encouraged. "You don't want us to freeze to death, do you?"_

**"The legendary persuasion of the Thompson Devils,"** Spirit whistled.

"Shirtless Kid? Let me see!" a random girl in the class shouted. Many a student turned, jaw hanging, to find the source, but said girl was hidden in the crowd.

_"After dinner," Kid promised reluctantly. Surveying the thin rock they'd placed over the fire, he placed the strips of beef on it strategically. They watched it sizzle a little for a while. The cameras skipped ahead to half an hour later. Kid took two paper plates and forked one strip onto his and two onto the other. "Eat up."_

_"This is it?" Liz questioned, disappointed._

_"We don't want to run out of food this early on."_

_With a sigh, the sisters tucked in and devoured the strips quickly. "This sucks," Patty muttered._

_Kid pursed his lips. "Yeah, but it's worth it. Hard times, if we can get through them together, will make us stronger as a team."_

**"True fact, ladies and gentlemen!"** Spirit said. **"If you go camping for a week with only this many provisions, chances are it'll improve your resonance, EAT class."**

Maka eyed Soul. When the whitehead noticed his meister's stare, he waved his hands frantically. "Ohh, hell no Maka." She tapped a book against her palm threateningly.

_"Bedtime now?" Patty suggested with a yawn. "Fork over the shirt, mister."_

_The reaper grumbled a little, but tossed them each a blanket, then removed his blazer reluctantly and handed it to Liz. Removing the strip of cloth from around his middle, he grimaced before setting it down next to him._

_Patty narrowed her eyes at his suspenders. "Kid, if you take those off, won't your pants fall down?"_

The entire class burst out laughing.

_"No, Patty," her meister replied, exasperated. "My pants are fine." Slipping the suspenders off his shoulders, he let them hang next to his legs and took off his white dress shirt, handing it to her. "I'll keep watch. You don't know what sort of creatures are in this blasted maze."_

_Liz wiggled her eyebrows at his chest and whistled, making him throw one of her boots at her head good-naturedly. Once they were asleep, Kid inspected his wound once more, flinching a little._

_"Chichiue, I'm going to kill you for this when we get out."_

_Re-tying the strip of cloth, he brought his knees up to his chest and watched the fake stars in the sky above him. The camera slowly panned out then cut to Spirit again._

**"There you have it, folks, day one! See you tomorrow, after lunch."** The screen went black and the class clapped happily.

"Alright, get out your sleeping bags and find a place on the floor," Stein ordered.

The class complained but did as he asked. Maka found herself laying next to a slight girl with black hair done up in pigtails.

"H-hey!" the girl whispered. "I know you! Maka, right?"

Maka frowned, then her gaze cleared. "Right, Tsugumi, was it?" The girl nodded. "It's been a while."

They lay in companionable silence in their sleeping bags. Then Tsugumi asked,

"Do you really think we'll be forced to fight like that?"

"Oh, no," Maka reassured her. "Kid is probably our most skilled meister. Lord Death knows he can handle himself, so he gave him harder obstacles. I'm sure it'll be a lot easier for the NOT class students. Trust me, EAT can be a handful." She rolled her eyes.

"Oh, okay. Goodnight, Maka."

"Goodnight, Tsugumi."

"Goodnight, class. Fufufufu..."

A collective shiver. _Oh, crap._

* * *

_**Day Two**** ;;**_

Maka stretched as she joined the rush back to Class Crescent Moon. They'd woken up, been allowed to change clothes, brush their teeth, eat breakfast, etc, then were let outside to basically mess around and hopefully train a little in the morning. Just before lunch, Stein called them back in to explain some more about what was going to go down during the week, then they ate at the cafeteria. Now it was back to the classroom for a good seven hours of watching Kid and his partners walk around a maze. Whoopee. (They had a two hour break, of course, but still.)

"It's so worth it for the popcorn and ice cream," BlackStar said appreciatively, rubbing his belly as they took their seats in the classroom. After a five-star dinner at around six o'clock, they watched for another hour then were set loose on the endless ice cream, popcorn, and movie snacks buffet. Then they watched until about nine thirty, and were sent to bed.

"An entire week of this and we'll all have gained thirty pounds," Maka muttered unhappily.

"Loosen up," her partner advised. "Sheesh. At least there's no studying or tests or actual schoolwork. We just get to watch Kid and the Thompsons run around that maze like lab rats."

"If only they were," Stein commented dreamily, having caught the tail end of their conversation. Those who heard shivered, which was becoming a reflex by now.

The screen flashed to life, and everyone quieted down.

**"Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen!"** Spirit greeted enthusiastically. **"Maka, you're still my sweet sweet daughter! Anyways, while you were sleeping and playing and eating, Kid and the sisters covered an entire nine miles! Let's give 'em a hand!"** Most of the class clapped. **"They ran into another lizard, but this one was a baby. Watch."**

_Kid cursed as the lizard shot a tiny spike at him. "A baby? Chichiue, this is pointless."_

_"KILL IT! BURN THAT MUTHAFU-" Patty was shrieking._

_Liz cut her off quickly. "Aaanyways, Kid, hurry up and kill it! We've still got, like, thirty miles to go in this stupid maze, right?"_

_"I'm working on it," he replied testily. A few seconds later, the baby lizard was ash._

**"Kid's the winner! Woohoo! Let's hear a nice long cheer for-"**

"GET ON WITH IT!"

_As the trio continued walking, Patty poked his shoulder. "Kid, you didn't put your jacket back on."_

_He shrugged and gestured to his pack. "I didn't see the point."_

_"But what about your suspend-thingies?" she giggled. The black straps were still hanging next to his legs, swinging with his steps. The reaper glanced down at them, nonplussed, and didn't answer except to shrug again. Patty fell silent for a moment, then commented laughingly, "You SURE your pants won't fall-"_

_"I'm sure," he growled._

The class laughed, and the next hour was mostly Spirit blabbering about stuff and showing them overviews of the Maze and commenting on Kid's techniques and at one point a school picture of Maka. Lord Death reentered the picture and chopped him for that. **"You're supposed to be talking about my son, Spirit, not your daughter!"**

**"Right, right, sorry..."**

At six o'clock they were led to the dining room and given their five-star meal. Each team sat together, ate together, and was basically forced to spend an hour with each other. Translation? Hell.

"And Liz thinks THEY have it bad," Tsubaki joked weakly as BlackStar launched into yet _another_ long story about one of his 'amazing missions' that really had ended up in yet _another_ failure. Maka groaned and slammed her head down on her hands.

**MEANWHILE, IN THE MAZE...**

Kid stopped and put a hand to his eyes, blocking the sun as he surveyed their path. The maze had widened into a long, wide path, and the end was only about fifty feet away, where it stopped into a three-way fork. It seemed too easy, however.

"Why don't we just-" Patty started to say, stepping forward. In an instant, Kid yanked her out of the way as the ground blew up beneath her feet. The three of them were tossed backwards in a dusty heap. Kid brushed himself off and sprang to his feet.

"Damnit. Land mines."

"You think?" Liz asked dryly, still a little shaken as she pulled Patty to her feet. The younger sister laughed, but it was a little half-hearted.

Kid looked up at the orange sky. "We've got little more than an hour before nightfall. We're going to have to figure this out quickly." Surveying the path before him, his razor-sharp golden reaper eyes picked out the faint bumps in the dirt where the mines were. "You two transform into guns." They obeyed, and he slipped them in his pack. "Don't transform back to human no matter _what_ unless I tell you to."

"Y-yeah, okay."

"Okay~!"

Stepping between where he knew the landmines to be, Kid carefully and slowly made his way through the field, not making any mistakes. "The one time when OCD comes in handy," he commented with a dark sort of humor. Liz chuckled anxiously. They were nearing the end when one of the lizards somewhere else in the maze called loudly and startled Kid, and he misjudged his step by a few millimeters. It was enough.

With a huge BOOM, the ground blew up all around him, one explosion triggering the others. Disregarding any former plan, Kid poured all the speed he had into his legs and dashed the last twenty yards. The final explosion erupted directly beneath his feet, and with reflexes only a reaper could possess, he yanked the pack around to his front and wrapped his arms around it, hopefully protecting it. Another huge BOOM and he was blown high into the sky, then landed in a tumble on the other side, clear of the mines.

Ignoring his orders, Liz and Patty transformed back and rolled him over frantically. "Kid! Kid! Shit, Kid, you gotta wake up!"

Moaning, the reaper opened one eye halfway. "You... disobeyed orders..."

"Screw that," Patty snarled. "We're not going any farther. _Got it?"_

"Got it," he responded weakly, letting his eye drift shut again. Blood ran in a wavy line over his other eye, and there was a long burn on his back. Most of the bottom edge of his shirt was charred away.

"That's not gonna work as a blanket anymore," Liz murmured, half to herself.

Patty carefully took off his pack and together the two maneuvered him into one of the few patches of shade. Not that he needed it, but they definitely did. Sitting back against the shrubs, they took off his shirt again and lay him on his back. Liz bit her lip at the sight of the angry red skin.

"Don't use your water," Kid mumbled.

Both of them jumped. "What- wait, why?"

"Waste," he murmured feverishly.

"No it's not," Liz protested heatedly, getting out one of their canteens. There was only a tiny bit left, anyway. "You're not a waste." Splashing it onto the wound, she tried to ignore her meister's pained hiss as the cold liquid splashed against his burn. After that was done, they wound more cloth around it. "You need to stop getting injured," the elder Thompson scolded.

"Agreed," he moaned. "Besides, it was only to save your ungrateful butts."

Patty laughed. "Kiddo-kun's an idiot! Kiddo-kun's an idiot~!"

They sat together for almost two hours. The sun had almost set by the time Kid deemed his burn 'healed.' Liz inspected it shrewdly and promptly commented, "It's nowhere near healed."

"Healed enough to travel," he replied, slinging his pack over his shoulders and starting their trek again. Rolling their eyes, the sisters followed.

"So, if this maze is supposed to be for NOT students, why's it so hard?" Liz asked.

Kid shrugged. "The level of difficulty will be much lower for NOT students. Chichiue's giving me a challenge, since I haven't had many missions as of late. He could tell I was getting bored."

"Sure hope this doesn't seem boring," Liz muttered. "Because it certainly isn't."

Patty giggled. "I think it's fun." Her two companions leveled near-identical glares at her, making the blonde collapse in fits of laughter. Sighing in defeat, Liz and Kid each took one hand and dragged her behind them.

**BACK WITH CLASS CRESCENT MOON...**

Maka yawned and rubbed her stomach as they filed back into the room. Most of the class was lazy and sluggish at first as they settled into their seats, then tensed when they realized Stein was in the middle of a serious conversation with someone (most likely Spirit) on a small headset. The students trained their ears and fell silent.

"I see. Second degree burn?" Stein was saying. The people who could hear winced. "Yes. Yes. No, they just got back. Yes. Yep, I'll show them the footage now."

"What happened?" Tsubaki asked anxiously. Stein grimaced.

"Mine field. He'll be fine by tomorrow, don't worry." A grin overtook the professor's features. "Ah, if I could just get a skin sample..."

The class shivered. "No way," Maka growled. "I'm drawing the line at Grim Reapers." Stein cackled and turned back to the screen.

**"Hi, hi, hi! Welcome back! While you were eating dinner, I'm afraid Kid sustained another injury."** The screen cut to a small clip of Kid navigating the land mines, then protecting his pack with Liz and Patty in it as the last one blasted him across the field.

_"You need to stop getting injured," Liz was saying._

_"Agreed."_

_It cut to them walking, plus a close up on the burn, showing that it was surprisingly almost healed. The red, inflamed skin had lightened to a slighty angry pink color._

"Well, he's alive," Soul muttered unhelpfully. Maka shushed him and threatened to pull a book out. He cringed.

_"You sure you're okay?" Liz worried._

_Kid rolled his eyes for the millionth time. "YES. It'll heal by tomorrow morning. Stop mothering, Liz."  
_

_The weapon 'harrumphed' and glared at her meister. "I'm just trying to keep us alive."  
_

_Patty cackled and snorted something along the lines of "Mother~!"  
_

_After glaring her sister down too, Liz fell silent and the three walked in companionable silence for about an hour. The screen cut to flashbacks, however, interspersed by panoramic shots of them walking and small 'interviews' with random students - including Tsubaki, BlackStar, and Killik._

All three shrugged helplessly.

_"So, Kid, who's your real mom?" Patty questioned, finally falling out of her windy patterns of walking and resuming her usual goosestep next to her meister._

_Kid stiffened._

As did the entire class, watching with bated breath. This was a topic NO-ONE had ever dared breach to the reaper, or his father.

_"No."_

_Patty pouted, skipping to catch up with him and peering at his face, which had closed off like a ten-ton wall of steel._

_"Pleeaaaase~?"_

_"No."_

_"One tiny clue~?"_

_"No."_

_"Aww, come on, just a hint-"_

_"NO. Stop talking, Patricia," he responded harshly, quelling her inquisitive attacks immediately. Then he kept walking but with slightly longer steps, pulling him ahead of the two weapons._

**"There you have it, folks, day two! See you all again tomorrow~..."**

And the screen faded to black.

* * *

_**Day Three**_** ;;**

Maka woke up and arched her stiff neck, popping a few joints. Yawning, she blinked sand away from her eyes and gazed around - everyone was still asleep. Shaking Soul by the shoulder, she started to say "Wake up! It's almost time for the morning-"

Immediately his right arm transformed into a scythe blade and swung clumsily at her face. Stumbling back with a screech of surprise, the meister's eyes turned to flames and before her sleepy weapon could see who he had attacked, she slammed a book (a nice, thick dictionary) into his skull even harder than usual, making him shout, groan, and roll on the floor clutching his head in pain.

The EAT class woke up, weapons leaping into their meister's hands or transforming partially, while the NOT students and BlackStar snored on.

"What wa- wa- waaaaas that?" Killik asked around his yawn, not noticing that only Pot of Thunder had transformed and that Fire was clinging to his leg. Raising the fist that should have been adorned with his other glove, the brown-skinned meister still failed to notice as he mumbled, "If it's Stein I'll cream him."

"It wasn't Stein, it was Maka," Soul cried pitifully, still clutching his head.

"Oh. Well, Maka, sorry if your weapon is being a- a- aa- aaaaass, but the rest of us are gonna get some sleep," Killik muttered, falling like a marionette with its strings cut onto his sleeping bag and mumbling incomprehensibly into the small camping pillow.

Just as the class began to relax again, Stein burst through the door on his rolling chair and fell on his face, then rolled and came up so he was on his back with his head lying closer to the sleeping (or trying to) mass of students. "Good/bad news. Lord Death went soft and decided Kid needed a day of rest, so there aren't gonna be any obstacles today other than walking. Go do whatever the hell it is kids do on a free day."

This managed to wake the ENTIRE class up, EAT or NOT, and all rushed through the doors cheering.

* * *

_**Day Four**_** ;;**

Kid had fallen asleep.

He didn't usually, but when he was injured and/or had expended a lot of energy, sometimes his advanced reaper body caught up to him and his eyes closed.

Liz had woken sometime around three, shivering because Kid's shirt had fallen off. Looking up and around, her eyes were greeted with the comforting sight of Patty still snoring away, and Kid as he sat with his knees pulled to his chest and his back against the hedge. Normally his golden eyes would be alight with the slowly dying embers of their fire that he was still staring into, but today his eyes were closed and his head had lolled forward onto his knees. His black and white bangs hid his face.

Smiling softly, the weapon reached over and put a gentle hand on his head. Even the lightest touch would usually wake him, but today was unusual. He barely stirred, head flopping to the side and bangs falling in his face. His small deep breaths blew the locks of hair back and forth, like a swing. Stifling a giggle, Liz decided he needed sleep and let him be for a few more hours.

**BACK WITH THE CLASS...**

**"Welcome one, welcome all-of-the-students-selected! To the grand showing of our new show, The Maze!"**

BlackStar woke slowly, the voice of Maka's obnoxious dad blaring in his ears. "Whazz'appening?" he slurred, falling off the desk he was lying on and landing squarely on Soul, who coughed and woke quickly, nearly beheading his best friend like he almost had his meister.

This time the entire class woke after BlackStar's suprised shriek ripped through the air. Stein threw a scalpel and pegged the wall right above the assassin's head. "Pay attention," he reminded cheerfully, waving at the screen to pay attention.

_Kid and the Thompsons were walking through the hedges once more, when the ground before them opened up into a dark tunnel. Kid marveled for a moment at the perfectly symmetrical archway, then descended, stopping only to command Liz and Patty to transform, which they did._

_It was dark, and the steps seemed to go on forever, but he finally reached the end. Mouth opening slightly in shock, Kid paced forward into the room._

_On pedestals as far down as the eye could see, lay singular glowing orbs of blue light. The hallway stretched on for an age, but at the very end the trio could see an even brighter sign of light. Ignoring that for a moment, Kid flipped the sisters around neatly and tossed them behind him, where they transformed and looked around in awe._

_"What is this place?" Patty whispered._

_Kid shook his head. "I- don't know." Reaching out to touch one of the balls of light, he shrank back, startled, when it flew forward and expanded into a small screen. Straightening from his defensive stance, Kid eyed the thing warily._

_Fizzling with static for a moment, the screen went black then showed a video... of Kid, shooting at a stragely clothed man with a cloth sack behind his back._

_"That's when we fought that Kishin egg guy!" Liz remarked._

"What are those? Are we watching a TV show inside of a TV show?" Soul asked, frowning. Stein didn't answer, just pointed to the screen.

**_"Lupin, it's all over."_**

**_Kid's guns began to glow pink, and he raised them slowly then tossed them over his shoulders. They transformed, and immediately assumed their strange body contortions while Kid continued to talk._**

**_"Master Thief Lupin, your soul has become a Kishin egg and is pure evil."_**

**_Then all three spoke in unison. "And now we have come to claim it!"_**

_Kid and the sisters both frowned (in slight embarrasment) and Kid looked up. "Dad, what's the point of this?"_

Meanwhile, the class was holding back laughter.

**_The screen zoomed in briefly on all three faces, then zoomed out. All was still for a moment before Kid spazzed and spun to face the blonde weapon behind him. "Just look, Patty! Your stance is off again, the two of you aren't in align!"_**

**_"Ooh, I'm sorry Kid!"_**

**_"Uh, Kid, do you really think now is the time to be worrying about that..."_**

**_Lupin looked down at the sewer grate beneath his feet and opened it, escaping as Kid continued to lecture his weapons. Then the screen faded to_ black.**

Now the class was really holding back giggles.

_Meanwhile, all three had shown small signs of embarassment, but it wasn't over yet. Another orb flew in their direction and showed them a few snippets._

_**This time, it was BlackStar and Soul that filled the**_** screen.**_  
_

"Yeah!" BlackStar cheered. "Spotlight's mine!"

_**They were talking to Sid, pre-zombie stage.**_

_**"We wanna know about the pyramid of Anubis, who signed up to take the mission?"**_

_**"Ah. That mission wasn't taken by a student from our school, it's much too difficult for one of**_** you."**

"Really? That fight must have been pretty spectacular," Maka marveled.

_**"If not one of us, then who took it?"**_

_**"It was taken by Lord Death's son."**_

_**"Lord Death has a son?!"**_

_**"Well I'll be damned. Really?"**_

_**"Yes, really. I'm not a man to tell a lie." The screen panned up from an underside view of Beelzebub to Kid standing casually atop it, streaking across the sky at superhuman speeds while Sid continued to narrate. "He's a Grim Reaper just like his father. His name is Death the Kid." Then the screen skipped around a little.**_

_**"Wrath, wrath, wrath!"**_

_**A huge hammer out of bandages was pounding a bloodied and beaten Kid while his weapons called his name**_** frantically.**

Jaws dropped. "THAT'S how Kid brought down the pyramid?!" Soul snorted.

Maka was shocked too. "I expected more fight from him..."

**_"Wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath, wrath!" Again and again the hammer came down. Then, the sarcophagus split and a huge, misshapen, twisted body emerged. "I will come and deliver the final blow myself."_**

**_Kid sat up swiftly, and his thoughts began to narrate along with a view of one side and then the other of the pharaoh. 'Right. Left. Right. Left._ Right.'**

"You've got to be kidding me," Maka muttered.

_**Silence. Then...**_

_**'YOU'RE DISGUSTINGLY**_** HIDEOUS!'**

The entire class headdesked.

_**Liz and Patty commented. **__**"It's all over now."**_

_**"Kyahahahahaha~!"**_

_**Staggering to his feet, Kid continued to hurl insults at the monster. "What the hell kind of thing are you? I've never seen anything so messed up in my life! Do you know nothing about symmetry? Whoever made you should be dug up from his grave, shot, and be buried!" He raised his guns, pointing squarely at the creature's face. "You make me violently ill. Just look at your forehead!" He shot it. "You don't deserve such a jewel. In fact, you don't even deserve to exist."**_

_"Here it comes," Liz muttered._

The class had quit laughing for the most part and were watching with excited eyes to see the legendary destruction of Anubis.

_**"Disgusting. Disgusting disgusting disgusting!"**_

_**He pummeled the Pharoah with countless pink bullets, eyes going white with anger as he did so.**_

_**"Disgusting disgusting disgusting disgusting! You are disgusting disgusting DISGUSTING!"**_

_**With a huge blast of pinkish purple energy, he tore a hole in the back of the pyramid, leaving just a floating red soul.**_

"Woah," the class breathed collectively.

_**Then it cut to a scene of the trio leaving, the pyramid falling, Kid collapsing, then finally Soul and BlackStar's faces as they stared with gritted teeth at the 'Completed' stamp on the mission board.**_

_"What on earth was that for?" Kid mused, slightly angry. "Dad, yes, we get it. What is the point of this?"_

_To their surprise a note appeared in a flash of light. Picking it up, Kid read dubiously, "'To make sure you don't make the same mistake here.'"_

_"He has a point," Liz prodded him wearily._

_They continued walking, then suddenly arrived at the end. It led into..._

_"The center!" Patty cried happily, twirling in circles and flopping down into the long grass._

_"Careful, Patty," her meister warned, but it was too late._

_The giggling blonde had leapt after a butterfly and planted her foot on a mound of earth... which she realized too late was a land mine. A blur of black and white tackled her away from it a splitsecond before it detonated, and as she squeaked and reverted to weapon form instictively, she recognized the hands that grasped her as Kid's. The two rolled, Kid tucked tight around the metal gun, using the blasts to power Beelzebub's momentum, which he had summoned out of nowhere. Finally the two came to a stop away from the minefield, and Kid let go of Patty._

_"Sorry," she squeaked as he sighed and rubbed his burn. It had been healing, but now was rubbed a little raw._

_"It's okay," he amended, then looked around for her sister. Liz came running around the side of the field, then slide-tackle-hugged her sister, squeezing the hell out of the metal pistol._

_Sobbing, she cried, "Don't ever do that again!"_

_Transforming, her sister patted her head. "Don't worry~!"_

_Scrutinizing the field, Kid's enhanced eyes picked out more mines, but they were farther spaced than the last field. And there, in the middle, was a fogged crystal box containing the prize they had to deliver safely back to Lord Death. Smirking in triumph, he ventured into the field alone, hopping neatly over mines and coming to a halt before the box. He noticed the small holes inside but ignored them, and hopped back over to his weapons._

_"Well, what's inside?" Patty asked, leaning over. They'd sat a ways from the explosion radius, and were trying to open the box._

_"There's a dent on each side," Kid mused. "Six sides... two of each... hands!" Clapping his in delight, he repeated, "Hands."_

_"What?"_

_Sighing, he explained, "Look, you put your hands on the side of the box. There are six sides, and six hands between us. I'll do top and bottom, Patty can do these two, and you do the rest."_

_Dubiously Liz complied, as did Patty, and as soon as all their hands locked in place the box hissed and they leaned back. It opened slowly... revealing... revealing..._

_"A kitty!" Patty squealed._

_Kid and Liz stared at the sleeping fluffy cat with incredulous, baffled, exasperated, and annoyed glares. "Really?" Liz groaned. "We came all this way for a cat?"_

_"Is this a joke?" Kid asked._

Class Crescent Moon was in hysterics. "A cat?" BlackStar wheezed. "They did all that for... a tiny cat?"

* * *

**_Day Five_ ;;**

The sun rose upon a peaceful scene (not for long). After discovering the species of their charge, the trio had fallen asleep, the kitten still curled in the box. However, through the night, as it got colder, the fuzzball had awoken and decided to seek warmth with the nearest source- Kid. Wrapping its tiny fluffy tail around its nose, the kitten lay burrowed between Kid's legs and his stomach, having fallen asleep with his knees tucked to his chest again.

And so his partners woke to the undignified yelp of their meister, who had woken to find a ball of fur in his lap.

"Wha-?" Patty yawned sleepily. "Aww, kitty..."

"I still don't like him," Kid grated, pushing the cat away from him. The kitten yawned and stretched, showing a tiny pink mouth with little white teeth. He was jet black, with white front paws and three tiny white stripes around his right ear.

Liz protested heavily, "How can you not like him? He's so cute!"

"He's asymmetrical," her meister pointed out.

"So what?" Patty stuck her tongue out at him.

Before Kid could launch on another long tirade about the balance of Order and whatever crap, Liz hustled them together and wrapped the kitten in Kid's jacket, carrying it with her as they walked back through the maze. All of a sudden, a ladder dropped down from the sky above them, a sticky note plastered to the fourth rung. Kid peeled it off and read it, then sighed happily. "Oh, finally."

"What?" Liz inquired absentmindedly, too animated with the kitten's tiny flicking tail.

"'Climb the ladder and come say hi to your classmates!'" Kid read.

"But our week isn't up."

Kid leveled a 'seriously?' face at her. "You know my father, he changed his mind five minutes ago and decided he wants to have us eat popsicles as a reward or something."

"Kyahaha~, that sounds like him," Patty giggled.

Liz tore a few strips of cloth from one of their blankets, seeing as they didn't need them anymore, and tied the bundle of cloth holding the kitten around her waist. Then she followed her meister and sister as they began to climb...

**WITH THE CLASS...**

Stein had decided to go with a different way of viewing, and put the screen at the very top of all the desks, so all the students had to look up to see it. They watched, laughing, as Kid pried the kitten from his legs, Liz cooing over it, Patty in hysterics on the side...

"It's funny, you forget he's a Grim Reaper sometimes," Tsubaki joked softly.

"Ha! One I will SURPASS!" BlackStar boasted loudly as usual, striking a heroic pose.

Soul rolled his eyes. "As if. Didn't you see that video of the Anubis Lord Death made them watch?" On the screen was Kid cooking breakfast over a campfire, seeing as the class watched about half an hour after the events actually happened. "He's not gonna like your single-sided tattoo..."

"WHO CARES? NOT A GOD LIKE ME!"

"BlackStar..."

Maka rolled her eyes. "You know, you'd think you'd gain a little more respect for Kid after having watched him struggle through a maze for five days."

"What. The. Hell. Is. This."

"YOU WHAT?"

"HEY, YOU HAD A SLUMBER PARTY WITHOUT ME, YOU LITTLE LIARS?!"

The classroom spun around, mouths agape, to see a livid Kid, fuming Patty, and murderous Liz.

"Uh... hi guys?" Maka tried to greet weakly.

"DAMNIT DAD, AGAIN?!" Kid hollered in the general direction of the ceiling. "NOT. FUNNY."

"Again?" BlackStar gulped.

Liz glared at him. "You don't want to know."

All three advanced on the students and unconsciously formed a rather formidable-looking stance. "Care to tell us what this is about?" they said in unison.

A collective shiver.

_Oh. Crap._

* * *

**Lulz. They're in for it now 8D Hope you liked, drop me a review and a suggestion!**

**_Kat_  
**


	15. Savior: Soul

_Yay, new miniseries! XD I'm calling it Savior, for lack of a better title (damn brain at 11:30pm...) and each one will be about either Kid saving each team member/the first time they meet/both, like in this story._

_Hope you likey~_

* * *

Savior: Soul

* * *

The young Soul Evans pouted and sulked, swinging his feet back and forth on a park bench. The weather in Death City was mild, but a little foggy at the moment. It only served to anger him more, reminding him of the main reason for his gloom - his parents. And his brother, for that matter. The Evans family had been called to Death City to perform for a large party that the Grim Reaper was holding, a celebration of some stupid holiday the albino really didn't care for. He'd played spectacularly, performing with a complicated piano piece that was well above his age level, and had only faltered on one chord. Naturally, it was enough.

Wes always gets the praise, the white-haired boy grumbled inwardly. He never messes up. I do the same thing, different instrument, and get one note wrong and I get locked in the piano room for two days. It was so unfair, that his parents (mother in particular) forced him to perfect everything. Even if he did perform perfectly, Wes would still get all the glory.

Wrapped in his thoughts, Soul failed to notice the slight burst of manic laughter emanating from the alley between two buildings behind him. He did notice, however, when a large butcher knife came sailing through the air and imbedded itself in the ground next to his left foot.

"Aww, I missed," a voice hissed.

Scrambling to his feet, the boy narrowed his crimson eyes and tried not to show fear. "Who the hell're you?!"

Another burst of cackling laughter. "Who am I? I am your doom. I am Eater. I will swallow your soul and become more powerful! That's who I am, little boy."

Gulping, Soul backed up a little and tripped over a tree root. _Typical. Even when it's a freaking monster attacking me, I get the most cliche bad luck,_ he thought bitterly. Scooting backwards, his red eyes widened as the man with probably a dozen butcher knives STICKING OUT OF HIS ARMS advanced with a sharp-toothed grin. Rather like his own, Soul supposed, but now was not the time to be comparing teeth length.

"Stay away from him."

Both heads snapped around to find the source of this new voice. It was calm and smooth, yet echoing with something deadly. Soul almost groaned out loud. Another monster? He definitely had the worst luck in the world.

But no, it looked to be... a boy, around the same age as Soul, with jet-black hair and scary golden eyes; plus the strangest white stripes running around exactly half of his hair. The monster hissed.

"Reaper."

Soul's jaw dropped. The Grim Reaper? No, it couldn't be. This guy was way too small and... human. The Reaper he'd seen at the party up the hill at the school was spiky and tall, with a weird white mask. Maybe this was him without the mask and cloak on? Was Death really a little kid, no older than eight or nine?

The albino never got an answer, because the Reaper leapt forward and punched the monster on the jaw squarely. A fight started, almost literally above Soul's head, with the monster throwing wild swings in a rage and Shinigami dodging them all neatly, ducking the blades with superhuman speed and avoiding his fists with precision, all while delivering his own blows. Soul was, to put it the way his grandfather would have, flabbergasted.

After almost five full minutes of this display, the young pianist was jolted out of his daze by a sharp jab, courtesy of his savior's left heel. "Get up!" the Reaper reprimanded. "Get out of here. I can handle him - run away as fast as you can!"

Soul didn't need to be told twice. He scrambled to his feet and bolted, cursing inwardly at - of all the things - the amount of dust that was smeared on his pant legs. Without looking back (aside from one small glance, that offered him only a puzzling sight he later dismissed), he sprinted through the trees he'd escaped to earlier and up the hill to the Academy. Pausing outside the doors to catch his breath and wipe his dress pants mostly clean of dust and dirt, he smoothed his spiky white locks and entered the party once again, slipping through the crowd surreptitiously.

"Where've you been?" A voice startled him and he jumped, whipping around to see it was just Wes. Yeah. Just the great and almighty Wes.

"Nowhere," he lied easily.

Raising an eyebrow, Wes scrutinized his younger sibling. Soul fidgeted a little uncomfortably. "Okay... by the way, you've got a little dirt on your cheek." He tapped the skin by his own mouth. "Mother's going to have a field day with you."

The younger grimaced, then his eyes widened in shock as he caught sight of something over Wes' shoulder - the Grim Reaper, back in his cloak and mask, chatting happily with a dark-skinned man with cornrows. Trying to look casual, the boy sidled up to the two and bowed his head to Lord Death. "Thanks," he said awkwardly.

Lord Death tilted his head to the side and asked in a squeaky voice that sounded nothing like it had before, "What for?"

"For saving me from that monster earlier," Soul replied, uncomfortable.

"Hmm~? I don't remember any monster..." the Reaper mused.

"But it must be you." Getting a little confused, the ablino narrowed his eyes and tried to explain without sounding like he was protesting. "When the monster saw you, he said 'Reaper'. And you were a boy, you looked my age, and you had black hair with white stripes..."

Lord Death burst out laughing. "Oh-ho-ho, and I took down this monster?"

"Well... I think so," Soul furrowed his brow, throroughly puzzled. "I looked back and I thought I saw you holding a floating red blob, and smiling, and there were creepy skulls floating around your hands..."

"Ah, yes. Sorry. I do have a terrible memory, and it's rather easy to defeat monsters when you're as powerful as I am." The Reaper winked and patted him on the head. "Your piano playing was truly inspiring. Come back next year?"

The white-haired boy was shocked. "Uh... sure." Then he turned and slowly made his way back through the crowd.

"What was that about?" Wes laughed. "The Grim Reaper seemed to be messing with you."

"He wasn't," Soul defended. "I was just... asking him something. He wants us to come back next year, by the way."

Wes turned with a pat on his brother's head. "I'll tell Mother he said so. Clean your face."

Six years later, Soul had joined the academy and met up with his partner, Maka. The one thing he could recall was meeting a Kishin egg that called himself 'Eater'. Ironically, he renamed himself to match. He'd forgotten all about the night he met the Reaper. That is, until the day he and his best friend BlackStar challenged the new kid, ironically named Kid, to a duel. It was in the split second he'd watched, horrified, as the cannons slammed together with skulls dancing around them that he'd realized why Lord Death had laughed six years ago. It hadn't been the Reaper - it had been his son.

And so, three days later, when Kid's hair had regrown and he rejoined the class for a more proper first day, Soul had been the one to invite him and his partners to their table for lunch. Maka had quirked an eyebrow, but no-one had protested (save BlackStar, but they ignored him). As they were eating, Kid made a comment about Kishin eggs with butcher knives sticking out of their arms, then smirked at Soul.

"Oh, shut up," the weapon grumbled. "I didn't know I was a weapon. Lay off."

"I never got any thanks," Kid pointed out, "and my father told me you gave him all the credit."

"I didn't know any better!" Soul protested. "I thought it was you."

Kid burst out laughing. "You thought that under his cloak my father looked like an eight-year-old child."

Soul flushed. "I was eight too, you know."

"What on Earth are you two talking about?" Maka questioned.

"Oh, the time I saved Soul when we were both about eight," Kid grinned. "A perfect age to meet at, might I add."

BlackStar laughed uproariously. "Dude, you got saved by Kid when you were eight? When he was eight? So, Kid fought a Kishin egg when he was eight by himself and won."

"Technically I first defeated one when I was about six," the young reaper added helpfully.

Rolling his eyes at his friends, Soul continued to argue that it wasn't his fault. However, at the end of lunch while everyone else was streaming out to go to class, the weapon caught Kid's eye and mouthed a quick 'thank you'.

* * *

_ Cool enough for you? ;D Just kidding. See ya next time~!_

_**Kat**_


	16. Savior: Tsubaki

ANONYMOUS REVIEWS:

**8fangirl8 ;;** I know. *squeal* I might do the same for Maka, or I might not...

_Sorry for the... eccentric nature of this one ewe Don't know what I was thinking when I wrote it. (XD I was thinking about a DW episode, actually... JETHRO AMG) So yeah. I couldn't come up with anything good for Tsubaki~ -_- *sigh*_

* * *

Savior: Tsubaki

* * *

It was a sunny day, and Tsubaki was smiling. BlackStar was in detention, but it was with Sid, not Stein, so she didn't have to worry too much about his health (physical or mental...). Sid had raised the boy. Anyways, the respite from her meister's overexcitable presence was a relief.

Deciding she would take a bus down to Seoul, Korea (there is a lengthy explanation for this, which I will shorten for you: Once you drive off the end of the bridge leading out of Death City that seems to end in the desert, you may appear - with the Reaper's permission - almost anywhere in the world. Shuttle buses tour everywhere during most of the year. Plus, Sid would keep BlackStar working almost till midnight, and it was only three o'clock), Tsubaki bought her ticket and stepped on, humming softly to herself as she tuned out the chatter of the other passengers.

Just as the tires were leaving the cobblestone of the Death City Interbridge (what they called the road ending in the desert), an explosion rocked the vehicle and the sunny sky outside the windows went black. Yelping in surprise, Tsubaki tried to keep herself from sprouting blades (and therefore spearing another passenger as they were jostled around) and held onto the seat in front of her for dear life. Finally they lurched to a stop.

"Driver?" A woman with a small four-year-old child looked frantic. "What happened? Does anyone know?"

The other passengers answered with shrugs.

Peering out the window, Tsubaki's eyes were met with pitch black that seemed infinite. "Something threw us off course?" she guessed, a little scared. _Oh, no, BlackStar can't cook dinner... he can't cook anything. I'll be late, he'll think something's wrong, I suppose something IS wrong, but still..._

"Try opening the doors," a man suggested.

Tsubaki's head shot up. "No!" Everyone turned to look at her, and she flushed. I'm the only DWMA student on board... bother... "I-I mean, no. If we- we were really knocked off course while making the jump to Seoul, then we could be stranded in a vacuum in the middle of some inbetween world. If you open the doors we could all be ripped apart."

Jaws dropped. "What about oxygen?" another woman pressed.

"This bus is airtight," Tsubaki responded. "Remember, some stops are underwater, and all of these bus models are the same. So, there must be an oxygen tank, and it must be airtight, explaining why we aren't d- dead."

This time no-one spoke. Some people looked like they were holding their breath, not sure whether to believe what the Dark Arm said. One young boy knocked on the side of the bus, then drew back like it was hot. (Quite the opposite.)

"It's freezing cold!" the boy exclaimed. "Are we really in some inbetween world? How do you know?" Wide, innocent eyes turned to Tsubaki.

She gulped as more people followed suit. "W-well, I go the Academy, and they taught us about this transportation a lot last year... In fact, a friend of mine wanted another friend of mine to demonstrate what would happen in a vacuum, and he almost agreed, but his partners and another friend disagreed even though our professor liked the idea, he's crazy you see, I mean, not crazy, b-but... yeah, crazy. More like insane." The weapon turned bright red as she realized she'd been rambling so much.

"Cool!" the little boy cheered. "I'm Jay, who're you?"

"Tsubaki," she answered softly.

"Hey, aren't you the partner of that obnoxious blue-haired kid?" a man grumbled.

Tsubaki sweat-dropped. "Yes. His name is BlackStar, and he's really not that bad once you get to know him... well, he is, but I suppose since I'm his meister I'm used to it, unlike some other people and a couple of my friends-" She shut her mouth. _I'm rambling again, aren't I? Oh, I'm terrible at this..._

People dissolved into nervous conversation, glancing around like they were expecting others to start dropping dead at any second. Tsubaki noticed a man shivering in a corner, eyes unseeing, but dismissed it as nerves. Maybe a disorder or something? The weapon smiled - 'disorder' reminded her of 'OCD', which reminded her of Kid. Of all the people, I could use either Kid or BlackStar right now. Or Maka, I suppose.

Her suspiscions were brought painfully to light when the man stood up, close to hyperventilating, and pounded on the steel walls of the bus. "WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" he screamed out of nowhere. "IT'S COMING! THE PRESENCE!"

A few others screamed, but most ignored it as paranoia, a few shivered, and Tsubaki frowned in concern. She opened her mouth to ask if the man was alright, but decided better of it. Still, 'the presence'? Maybe he could see souls...

"Can you see my soul?"

Tsubaki jumped, thinking for an irrational moment that someone had read her thoughts, but it was just Jay, a grin threatening to split his face.

"I'm a weapon," she answered gently. "I can feel your soul, but I can't see what it looks like or anything like that."

He shrugged. "That's still awesome! I wanna be a meister, but Mom won't let me." Sticking his tongue out at the woman who'd asked Tsubaki about oxygen, the boy did a clumsy somersault on the floor of the bus and stood back up. "Tada!"

"Very good," Tsubaki praised. "If you-"

CRASH.

The bus shook again, and something had slammed into the metal wall hard enough to leave a dent. Tsubaki gaped. It was the exact size of a human! Pounding on the dent, she yelled, "Hello? Is someone there?"

All she got in reply was a faint groan.

"There's someone out there," she concluded to the terrified people inside the bus. "I'm going to go see who it is."

"Don't be silly," Jay's mother scolded. "You'll die."

"No," the weapon concluding, pointing to a compartment in the opposite wall, "there are watersuits. If they're airtight, they'll work for a vacuum." Walking over, she opened the panel and calmly donned the outfit, though inside she was shaking with worry. The person out there can help us get home, I'm sure of it, she told herself. There's no other way home, that's one thing I didn't tell these poor people...

Being an underwater bus, there was a transfer air lock, and Tsubaki instructed Jay and his mother on how to operate it before climbing in. As soon as the exterior door opened, she quickly tied a rope fastened to her waist to a handbar in the wall. Floating out of the bus, she looked around. The silver capsule was the only spot of color there. Making her way slowly around the bus, waving sheepishly at Jay as he climbed from window to window, she arrived at the spot of the dent to find...

"Kid?!" she gasped, or rather tried to gasp, seeing as he couldn't hear her through her helmet. The reaper was unconscious, and had a small cut on the bridge of his nose, but seemed otherwise unharmed. But he couldn't breathe! Shaking him furiously, Tsubaki wished against all the laws of the universe that he was somehow alive.

One important fact she forgot - he was a shinigami. The instant his eyes snapped open and his chest moved, she panicked and made a move to give him her helmet. Shaking his head quickly, Kid moved his mouth but was unable to make a sound without any air. Rolling his eyes, the reaper gestured to the rope she had tied around herself. Understanding, the weapon led them back to the air lock and signaled Jay to close the outer doors and let air into the inbetween room. Taking the helmet off, she immediately worried over Kid.

"I'm fine," he placated. "Father told me a bus had been attacked by some Kishin eggs, and sent me out here to bring you back."

"Oh thank goodness," she sighed. "How do you do that?"

Kid winced. "Ah, there's a small problem, you see - I need some time to establish a link with my father so he can lend me enough energy to transport you between worlds. Seeing as these stupid Lines -" to emphasize he blew a breath upwards, making his black and white locks float for a moment "- haven't connected yet, my soul might not take the strain of moving this amount of mass. My father doesn't want to risk it." He shrugged.

"So what's the problem?"

"It's just I'm not that adept at establishing links this far away." The reaper sighed. "If anyone, Father should have sent a meister with me, to help narrow my focus. As powerful my Soul Perception is, I fear it might not be quite strong enough for this."

"Then why did you come alone?" she reprimanded.

With a smile, he answered, "Father looked up the roster of who was on board and found the record for a ticket belonging to one Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. I couldn't let one of my friends die in a cold, dark vacuum all alone."

Tsubaki laughed, then gasped for air. "Hey, what..." With a flash of horror, she realized it in the same instant as Kid - her rope had gotten caught in the door without either of them noticing, and had been slipping it open millimeter by millimeter. Finally, it caved, sending the door flying open and catapulting the Dark Arm out into the vacuum- without a helmet. Opening and closing her mouth, she found no air, and closed her eyes for the end, when...

Kid had grabbed hold of her arm, and as she wrenched her eyes open, she recognized the hand gestures he was making as Soul Connection. "No!" she tried to mouth. "You'll kill yourself!" But by then she was blacking out, and as the black space brightened and both she, Kid, and the entire bus were shot forward, the Dark Arm's last thought was of BlackStar. Before she could do anything, air rushed to her lungs, and her eyes closed.

Tsubaki's eyes shot open, and she heaved in a great lungful of air. Judging by the lack of response where they'd landed (in the training forest of the DWMA), she guessed it had only been a few seconds since she'd blacked out. Casting her eyes about, she acknowledged the seemingly unharmed bus and the groaning passengers staggering out, then found what she was looking for - Kid's limp body.

"Kid!" she shouted, shaking him gently.

"Not... helping..." a weak voice rasped.

The weapon almost dropped her friend, then hugged him. "Oh, thank Death," she gasped aloud, setting him down. "I'm so sorry."

"For... what?" he coughed, cracking open one eye. "I'll be fine, just give me a few days to sleep it off."

"I'll never forget this, though," she promised.

With a sigh and a long drawn-out breath, he replied, "No... need... I'm paying... BlackStar... back..."

"For what?" Tsubaki questioned, berating herself for sounding tearful.

"Opening... my eyes..." Then he'd passed out as well, only the faint rise and fall of his chest reassuring her.

The few days he'd promised ended up being close to three weeks, and the moment the reaper woke up, BlackStar had promised a very long and painful payback for saving his partner.

Frowning, Kid had been about to ask why, when the assassin crushed him into a bone-splintering hug. Half-choking, the victim wheezed, "No- problem- LET. GO. Oh, not you too, Maka- oof! Don't drag Soul into this-! Patrici- LIZ. Ow, all of you! And- oh no- Tsubaki don't you dare-"

Ignoring him, Tsubaki joined the group hug, effectively smothering the poor exasperated reaper.

* * *

_Cutesy ending. ^3^ See ya next time, with Maka's chapter~_

_**Kat**  
_


	17. Not Even A Note

_Finally, I have returned! *fistpumps* Dunno where this came from x3 I was kinda surfing YouTube and watching stuff like 'Top Ten Saddest Anime Deaths' and stuff. And the scene from Monsters Inc. where Sully leaves Boo~ ;-;_

* * *

**p l a y**

**.**

They say, that before someone dies - knowingly - they leave a note. A note to family, to friends, to enemies and to whom it may possibly concern. They say they leave it in a place where said recipient will be too far away to interfere, or maybe with a perfect view.

They say many things, many things indeed; they say that 'they say' simply classifies to your average person, that this was just the average.

And if Kid was anything, it wasn't average.

He was a rich teenage Grim Reaper, heir to the throne of Death and obsessed with all things symmetry, insanely skilled fighter, polite and intelligent and wise beyond his years - which, in all honesty, were unknown. Five or five hundred, what was the difference?

So really, 'they say' will do nothing to classify Kid. He is his own entity, a seperate being unique even more so than any of the diverse species on the planet. They have at least one other of their kind, another partner.

He was alone.**  
**

**.**

**rewind**

**.**

The only human-reaper hybrid in the universe. A godling, with immense potential and even greater expectations placed upon his shoulders since the moment he came into being. Few of his friends really took the time to realize what being the only mobile reaper in the world meant. It meant that while Lord Death could surely ferry souls within his City, the entirety of the world was left un-reaped.

And so the burden fell, of course, to Kid.

Even Liz and Patty only so often caught a glimpse of his true life, everything he sacrificed for the petty humans who ran around and blew things up and called it justice. How he lived a false life in daylight, smiling and nodding and going along half-heartedly with whatever scheme BlackStar could concoct. How he went out of his way to help them, offering advice or a sparring partner, sometimes help with homework.

None of them had OCD. None of them knew what it was like to juggle a regular school life, a daily obsession, and the frankly scary duties he mustered throughout the night. He had talents beyond compare, but bottled them up and kept them safe under lock and key so as not to frighten away others.

Because none of the humans knew the very reason Kid had his hated half-stripes was FOR THEM. That he knew, ever since his father trapped himself in Death City, that there had to be a Grim Reaper to oversee the world's dead and dying. So Lord Death cheated his own trap in the only way he could; he doubled himself. No-one realizes that Kid is nothing more than a portion of Lord Death's soul, granted an independent mind and locked in a human-reaper body.

That you cannot trap the soul of a Grim Reaper in anything but the darkest of containers. It will reject it, the consequences being disastrous. So Lord Death took a dying baby and infused it with his own essence, corrupting it deeply and allowing a split portion of his soul to take hold.

And as Kid grew, his fascination with the outside world grew too, and by his fourth birthday he was reaping souls. He didn't dare go near humans (live ones) - he was horrifying to look at, constantly manifesting in shadow with flickering purple lightning cracking ominously around his fists and three red-tinged white stripes wrapping completely around his head. His mouth often looked stitched closed, and the spiky cloak and half-mask he wore helped none.

As the Academy grew and flourished, so grew his longing to meet with a human without them running scared; to be 'friends' with someone, be 'happy' and have 'fun' - whatever those were.

One day, fed up with his unsucessful attempt to approach a student in a friendly matter, he pleaded with Lord Death to lock his power away, limit it. After centuries of playing the cold, heartless Death, he wanted someone to talk to other than his father; weapons to wield besides his fists and his power. And, after much begging, Lord Death granted his wish and forced the stripes to recede, leaving his son a (slightly odd) human look-alike.

And so the boy set out, tried to talk to kids and people at the Academy. At first he was rejected, but once he spoke the magic words - ('I'm Lord Death's son') - he was accepted quickly enough. Despite this, the people feared him more than anything, having heard the horror stories of what the son of Death looked like. Not that they knew why he looked normal now. In the end, he fit in with the adults; he was mature as (most of them) were, he surpassed them in intellect, and they didn't really believe in the horror stories the kids did.

Still, he didn't feel quite satisfied with his small, shaky friendships with the Death Scythes and a few teachers. He went back to lurking in the shadows, confused and alone. The memories of asking his father to make him normal were hazy, and for the longest time he misunderstood them for himself begging for his father to make him symmetrical and failing. Not that he blamed his father, but as the memories grew more distant and jumbled, so Kid's confusion and obsession grew. Before long, he had all-out OCD.

Lord Death knew there was something wrong with his son, but he was swamped with work most of the time - (a certain witch uprising in the East) - and instead often sent a teacher or Death Scythe to Gallows Mansion to check up on the boy. What they often found was Kid placidly dusting tables or adjusting paintings with two rulers stuck in his belt, carefully aligning everything perfectly. His behavior confused the teachers, and so all they reported to Lord Death was that his son was a bit obsessed with symmetry - but he spent all his time cleaning the house, so it was harmless.

This put the father's mind at ease, but not the son's.

Over time, he stopped cleaning the house 24/7 and started meditating, trying to figure out a pattern in his mess of memories. It took him months, but he slowly rebuilt them, and from that decided to curb his obsession and control it, then set out to find a weapon partner of his own.

(See, all along, none have realized that Kid CAN control his obsession with symmetry. He found that humans didn't much mind his oddities, often just collapsed in mirth when witnessing it. He didn't understand it, but was pleased all the same.)

And so he met his partners, Liz and Patty. He befriended them slowly, and they grew to trust him, essential for cohesive work on the battlefield. After a year or so in his newfound partnership, he met the rest of their soon-to-be team. Loud, smart Maka; cool-to-a-fault Soul; abrasive and courageous BlackStar; quiet and soft-spoken Tsubaki.

As their friendship grew, so grew Kid's hope that this could last, he could have friends. (But alas, it was not to be.)

**.**

**fastforward**

**.**

For humans are as humans shall be: Petty and arrogant, blind to the truth until the end. And when witches invaded, and their monstrosities scratched at the walls of Death City all around, the humans - instead of bonding together - let themselves fall into disarray, squabbling and fighting. Kid withdrew from such stupid arguments, and after decades of leave fell back to lurking in the shadows.

It saddened him, but he could not help them- they had to resolve their friendships themselves. He prided himself on not being so petty, so stupid and un-seeing as they were. He prided himself on not being stuck in binding attatchments that forced them to bicker over what was most important.

But, when the time came and the monsters breached the borders, the humans were overwhelmed and the students' disorganized defense fell into shambles, the young reaper found that when his friends' injured faces turned towards him in panic and pleading, some emotion drew him to help. They saw him, watching with cold eyes from the shadows, and screamed for his help. It took seeing the almost-decapitation of Liz to drive him to help. And so he melted back into the shadows and disappeared.

Oh, how his friends screamed; he could still hear it. They hollered till their voices were sore, asking and sobbing why he would leave them, his friends. He did not answer, even as their anger grew and they beat back the monsters feebly, hating him for leaving them. He ignored them, because he hadn't left.

Instead he'd gone to his father and asked him to unlock his power and let his stripes ring around in entirety. Shocked, Lord Death reminded him of the consequence: He would appear once again as the shady, frightening creature that he was. Kid waved it off.

"You know what I'm going to do," he reminded his father softly. "I need not worry about appearances. It might even be better, that their last image of me be a monstrosity, my true self."

Lord Death gathered his son, his own soul, and hugged him tight. True, the reaper could always split off his soul once again and repeat the process which had created this Kid, but he did not want any other. Only at Kid's gentle insisting did he tearfully comply, waving his hand and forcing the lines to surge past their barriers and complete themselves. With a gasp, the shadows grew and Kid's now-full stripes were lined with bloodred. The young reaper opened his cold, shockingly gold eyes and nodded once to his father, sadly.

The only tear he'd ever shed slipped down his cheek. "I'll be back with you soon," he promised. "I- I'm sorry for being such a terrible son. I hope the next time, my sucessor will make you proud."

"No," Lord Death whispered to the shadows Kid left in his wake as he departed. "You are the one that has made me proud."**  
**

**.**

**pause**

**. . .**

**p l a y**

**.**

The words reverberated through Kid's borrowed soul, and he choked out a goodbye. Then, composing himself, he glided through the air down Death City, slow and with purpose.

His friends, fighting on the ground, looked up angrily, and instantly their furious and desperate faces fell slack with shock. Kid was... so... Death-like. Far worse than his father, the temperature of the air around him plummeted, and a dark inky aura filled all of the City. Power crackled around his fists, and as he glanced down with cold, dead eyes at the humans he once called his partners, something familiar and warm gleamed in his icy gaze.

"Goodbye," he whispered down to them, and they heard it as perfectly as if he was standing before them. "It was an honor, to be your friend."

Then, increasing speed, the reaper charged with blinding speed through the barrier and was upon the witches in an instant. He fought with fearsome power, plowing through their ranks as if they were nothing but ants and overwhelming them. They quickly recovered, fought back, but he whirled between their attacks easily. No-one could touch him.

The humans gathered, gazing slack-jawed at the fight as the witches' monsters milled around, losing the signal between many of the magic links that their masters had had to concentrate upon. Now that their attention was diverted, the creatures began to dissapate into thin air.

Kid fought on, and slowly but surely cheers began to fill the air. Not bothering to turn around, Kid ignored the humans and assumed they were cheering because they thought the battle was won. Then he realized WHAT they were cheering.

"Kid! Kid! Kid! Kid!"

His name filled the air, rallying the petty humans as they once again fought the monsters, now with renewed vigor.

Kid whirled around, slack-jawed himself as he realized that they were cheering for him, and that moment of distraction cost him dearly. A snarling witch got a lucky hit, and the reaper staggered back as the large spike imbedded itself in his chest.

Growling ferally and coughing up blood, Kid lifted his head to the sky and screamed. The shadows grew, roiled like a storm that had no end, and the reaper saw in an instant the source of the witches' power - a single magical woman, who despite the commotion was holding the frayed connection between the magic and the monsters together.

Before the others could react, Kid leaped forward and plunged his hand - (sharpened with shadows) - through her chest. Her eyes opened with a startled gasp, and both Reaper and Witch stared into each other's eyes. Angry heated silver met icy, unforgiving gold, and then with identical grunts of pain they both crumpled to the floor. The other witches screamed and vanished, for they were merely manifestations of their leader's immense power.

The lead witch rasped out a laugh. "Well played, reaper boy, but this fight has cost you too much." Then she was gone, melting into a pile of sand.

Kid heaved shallow, quick breaths, and yanked the spike out of his chest with a small groan of agony. He vaguely registered that people had lifted him up and were hurrying with him back to the Academy. He stopped them, croaking out a command and ordering them to set him down in the small forest below the school.

"But your dad!" Liz cried. "He'll want to say goodbye!"

"No." Kid sighed deeply. "We've already said goodbye."

"You mean... you planned this? You knew you were going to die when you attacked those witches?" Maka demanded tearfully.

He laughed hoarsely, dry humor coloring his voice. "Of course. Didn't you? No, of course not... I knew humans and their silly hopes. Ah, well." He let out a long breath and panicked cries filled the air as his (all of a sudden) heavy eyelids shut, thinking he'd gone and died on them.

"Calm down," the reaper rasped, opening his eyes slowly once more. "You'll know when I'm actually gone, trust me." He breathed out, long and slow, closing his eyes briefly.

"Kidd-kun," ventured Patty's sad voice. "Why do you look so scary?"

The reaper boy choked on a laugh, cracking one eye open. "B-because... this is what I've always looked like." He almost rolled his eyes at their shocked inquiring looks. "When... I was younger, I wanted to talk to humans without them running scared... but they were always frightened by my appearance. So..." He coughed. "After much begging, my father consented to lock my power away and force my stripes to fade halfway..."

"You mean..." Soul breathed, a little horrified. "The stripes you always freak out about are like that... because you wanted them that way?"

"Basically," Kid gasped weakly. "All I really wanted was to be accepted, but humans still didn't like me very much. You see... my father and I, our souls... they're actually one and the same." He cracked a sad grin. "I'm really just a split-off part of my father's soul... given a little individuality. That's why I have no need to say goodbye to him, because I am him and he is me. Twisted, albeit... but that's how it works."

Maka shook her head in horrified wonder, and Liz asked, "You mean the partner we ridicule and tease is actually also the guy everyone in the city worships?!"

"Sort of." Another weak, rasping laugh. "Oh... and I'm don't... actually have... OCD. Humans thought that particular oddity that I acted out was funny, so I kept it around..." he sighed sadly. "My whole life has been a parade of acting, different farces and faces I put on to make others happy."

"No!" his teammates protested. "You don't have to act to make us happy."

"Yeah," BlackStar joined in for the first time, voice cracking. "Just- stay here, kay? I mean... I need someone to surpass. A god that's not just my enemy."

Kid thought this over. "Maka... here." From the frayed remains of his shadowy cloak he produced a book. "This... is the World Book, a copy written by a sister of mine. Life." He laughed hoarsely at his own joke. "Seriously. It... contains some information... on black blood. It also answers... a few questions humans have been asking since the dawn of Time. It's only entrusted to a precious... few humans, so take care of it."

Maka nodded, tears shining in her eyes.

"Soul..." Kid coughed. "Take this..." he flicked a small card at the scythe. "That'll... buy you three motorcycles... from anywhere." He cracked a dying grin, and the albino smiled sadly as well. Despite his ever-lasting struggle to stay cool, a few tears pooled in his eyes.

Sighing, Kid continued, "Tsubaki, I thought..." A bit of blood dribbled down his chin, but he wiped it away and withdrew from the shadows a small golden soul-shaped piece of engraved metal, with a gleaming red stone set in the middle. "Meditate... in front of this, and... it will ease your contact with your brother's soul, inside you..." She sobbed and hugged him gently.

"Liz, Patty..." their meister continued. He held out two gold chained chokers, with silver skulls hanging from them. The skulls opened like lockets, and within was the initial of each sister's name - an L and a P - along with a tiny engraving of each of their faces. It was signed with an ornate 'K' on the backs. Their crying intensified. "You can... use that, once... the next Kid comes along... and the part of my individualized soul... that dwells within them... will recognize it."

"And finally..." Kid slowly pushed himself to his feet, brushing off his friends' loud reprimands and cries. "BlackStar. My gift to you." Slowly, Kid positioned his hands and feet into a ready fighting stance. A few drops of blood fell from his wound, which he'd temporarily plugged with his own shadows.

BlackStar's eyes widened. "Come off it, I can't fight you when you're like that. Come back when you're better."

Kid laughed and rasped, "We both know that isn't going to happen." The he charged the assassin and kicked him in the face.

Snapping back, BlackStar fought back, and both of them whirled and twirled about each other, as if performing some intricate dance. Fists met feet and wills collided, dragging the battle out for a long five minutes until with a decisive spin kick, BlackStar brought Kid down and pinned him.

The reaper cracked a wide grin. "You beat... me. I was actually... trying, you know." He exhaled, long and slow, and went limp in his captor's grip. BlackStar let go of him, a little shell-shocked. Then golden eyes snapped open and his leg swept out, knocking the assassin onto his butt. "Now we're... even." Kid laughed. "Even though... you did surpass me..."

Then he relaxed, and his eyes started to droop. His friends clustered around, tears flowing freely once more. "Maybe I should have... told you my plan, for... once," the reaper mused on his deathbed. Ironic, since the bed he slept in at the mansion could also be counted as a deathbed.

"Yes, you should have," Liz reprimanded sharply, but her tone was interrupted by a cracking sob.

Kid smiled softly at her. "Thanks... for being friends." Then he coughed up more blood, and drew in a final rattling breath.

"It was worth it in the end."

They say that before people die knowingly, they leave a note for family and friends.

But 'they say's have never applied to Death.

**. . .**

**s t o p.**

* * *

_Do not forget what you've lost to the past, but focus on what you owe to the future._

_**Kat**_


End file.
